| Description : The Viennese doctor Karl Landsteiner defined the AB0 system of
blood groups in 1900, which includes the characteristics A and B, which can be combined to form the main groups A, B, AB
and 0 (neither A nor B). Worldwide, their frequency is: 0 = 45%, A = 40%, B = 11% and AB = 4%. The researcher, who received
the Nobel Prize for Medicine for this in 1930, also discovered the rhesus factor in 1937 during experiments with rhesus
monkeys, which causes a possible rhesus incompatibility in pregnancies. 88% of people are rhesus‐positive and 12%
rhesus‐negative. The frequency distribution of blood group characteristics according to the AB0 and Rhesus systems
varies greatly depending on ethnicity. The most common combination 0+ applies to 48% of the population in several countries,
whereas the rarest AB‐ applies to only 0.03% in East Asia. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the first
blood transfusion in Slovakia, Mária Poldaufová designed a central circle with a Greek cross, symbol
of the Red Cross relief organisation, with a (blood) drop in the middle as the coin motif. On the four bars of the cross
are the letters "A", "B", the number "0" and "AB" ‐ clockwise ‐ surrounded by 16 drops arranged in a circle, the
tips of which point alternately ‐ embossed in relief ‐ towards the centre or ‐ deeply embossed ‐ away
from the centre. The circular inscription "• SLOVENSKO •" (Slovakia) is at the bottom of the pill and above it
the occasion of issue "PRVÁ TRANSFÚZIA KRVI 1923‐2023" (first blood transfusion 1923‐2023, the
second number also representing the year of issue). The mint mark of the Slovak mint Mincovňa
Kremnica š.p. in Kremnica, an "MK" between two embossing stamps and the ligature "MP" of the designer's
initials flank the lowest drop on the left and right respectively. |
