Czech Post issued a commemorative miniature sheet with the face value of CZK 54 to celebrate the 700th anniversary of birth of the Roman Emperor and Czech King, Charles IV. The unveiling ceremony, held in the Karolinum building on Wednesday 04 May 2016, was attended by Prof. Tomáš Zima, Chancellor of Charles University, Milan Chovanec, Minister of the Interior of the Czech Republic, and Martin Elkán, Czech Post’s Director General. Further guests included the stamp’s graphic designer, Jan Kavan, and engraver, Miloš Ondráček.

The sheet, coming out in the volume of 54,500 pcs, includes the emperor’s portrait and many other references. These include the stylised initials of Charles’ name from the deed of the foundation of the university in Prague used in the stamp, or the scene portrayed in the main coupon where Charles IV symbolically presents the deed of foundation to St. Wenceslas. Further references to Charles IV include: motifs of St. Vitus cathedral; motifs of buildings surrounding Charles Bridge; muses playing musical instruments, and fish and grapevine in the middle sheet referring to the king’s support to the development of agriculture and fish farming.

During his speech at the ceremony unveiling the stamp with Charles IV held in the premises of Karolinum, a building connected with the House of Luxembourgs to which Charles IV belonged, Prof. Tomáš Zima, the incumbent Chancellor of Charles University, said: “In connection with the celebration of the 700th anniversary of birth of Charles IV, Charles University prepared many professional and social events. I am very pleased that together with Czech Post and the Ministry of the Interior we can also present a stamp featuring Charles IV. I believe that this is an extraordinary event and that the stamp will be highly valued and popular both among collectors and general public. The Father of the Nation deserves it.”

In his speech, Martin Elkán, Czech Post’s Director General, referred to the development of postal industry since Charles IV’s era: “Charles IV would certainly appreciate the fast and modern way of transporting information and goods used by people today. Medieval rulers had to rely on the reliability of their messengers and their ability to overcome any obstacles on their journey,” said Elkán, adding: “I am glad that Czech Post has been able to draw attention to this significant and strong personality by issuing a commemorative stamp in order to spread knowledge of him also outside the territory of this country.”

This is not the first stamp issued by Czech Post to commemorate Charles IV. The previous four stamps portraying him came out in 1948, 1978, 1996, and 1998. The present sheet was designed by Jan Kavan for the so-called combined technique. It means that the background is printed by offset while certain outlines, mainly of the face, hands and crown, are produced by recess printing from flat plates. The sheet was engraved by Miloš Ondráček. This is a completely new approach: the previous (in most cases) portraits of Charles IV were drawn by leading illustrators Karel Svolinský, Jiří Švengsbír and Oldřich Kulhánek. Oldřich Kulhánek also drew the portrait of Charles IV on the current CZK 100 banknote.

The latest miniature sheet refers to the extraordinary spectrum of activities of the Emperor and King Charles IV. The miniature sheet will be accompanied by an official numbered commemorative sheet with a combination of printed and stuck stamps with coupons, which will be printed in a relatively small volume. It will be available at all philatelic counters (post offices with a specialised philatelic counter) and at post offices that will use the internal system to order the stamp. The stamp is also accompanied by a first day cover (FDC) with a free paraphrase of a portrait of Charles IV founding a town. The FDC comes out in the volume of 4,200 pcs.