Silver Coin Ivan Hlinka - Proof

 The Czech Republic commemorates the 20th anniversary of one of the greatest sports triumphs of our history in 2018. The silver coin of the Czech Mint dedicated to ice hockey legend Ivan Hlinka comes out on this occasion.

Ivan Hlinka dedicated his whole life to hockey. He was first known as one of the best hockey players in Czechoslovak historyand later gained immortality as a coach who led the Czech national team to gold win at Winter Olympics in Nagano in 1998. He won the World Cup as an forward three times and two bronze medals from the Winter Olympics. He played 525 matches in the league in which he scored 342 goals. To sum up, he played for 259 matches and scored 133 goals. He played in the center position and was captain, which earned him his nickname "Chief". Apart from famous Nagano, which is considered to be the greatest collective success in the history of Czechoslovak sports, he won the World Championship with national team and became the first European coach to coach the NHL team throughout the season. Pittsburgh Penguins made it to the Stanley Cup semifinals under his leadership. Expecting many famous victories, his career was ended by a car accident, when he was tragically killed at the age of 54.

The commemorative coin came from the studio of an expert medal maker Mgr. Petr Horák, whose favorite themes are sports. The reverse side of the mintage is dominated by the charismatic portrait of the coach, which is surrounded by the inscription "IVAN HLINKA - GOLDEN TEAM COACH - NAGANO 1998". The coins of the Czech Mint are issued under the license of a foreign publisher, which is the state of Samoa. Their obverse sides contain its necessary attributes, which are the national emblem, the profile and name of Queen Elizabeth II, the nominal value of 2 DOLLARS (WST) and the year of the issue 2018.