Numismatics can be full of surprises. This short video, produced by the British Museum, highlights the Czech crown coin, the winning project of the official coin competition,  launched in 1957 by the Czech government. This coin was to remain in circulation after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Eastern bloc.

The coin depicts a woman kneeling to plant a Linden tree, a symbol of the Czechoslovak Republic. It appears to be an allegorical figure, as numismatics has been able to highlight so many of them. In...