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Lithuania Says Thank You on Country’s First 2 Euro Commemorative Coin

lithuania 2 euro

By Bank of Lithuania….
On Monday, December 14, the Bank of Lithuania issued into circulation the first Lithuanian 2-euro commemorative coin, which is dedicated to the Lithuanian language. These Lithuanian coins–with a mintage of one million–may be used for payments not only in Lithuania but also in other countries that use the euro. The launch of the new coin took place at the Writers Hall at the Faculty of Philology of Vilnius University.

“With the first Lithuanian commemorative coin, we spread the word about our remarkable language — it is believed to be the most archaic living Indo-European language. The coin bears the word AČIŪ (‘Thank you’). This is one of the first words that children and foreigners learn; it is often used in our daily life. The word also reflects the Lithuanian language and is beautifully linked to the theme of money. After all, each payment for goods or services, in a sense, is a materialised way of expressing gratitude,” said Vitas Vasiliauskas, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania.

Antanas Smetona, Dean of the Faculty of Philology at Vilnius University and author of the brochure that accompanies the coin, stated that while the Lithuanian language cannot compare to the major languages of the world in terms of users, it is not among the smallest. Nowadays almost 4.5 million people across the world speak it. The majority — approximately 3 million — live in Lithuania. The largest Lithuanian diasporas are located in the US, the UK and Germany, with Lithuanian communities found in 41 nations worldwide. There are approximately 200 institutions abroad that concentrate on Lithuanian studies: they act as a beacon of the Lithuanian language.

The Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania thanked the artist Liudas Parulskis for the coin’s imagery. “We thank you for this AČIŪ. To use this word on the coin dedicated to the Lithuanian language is a simple, yet beautiful idea,” said V. Vasiliauskas. “A curious coincidence: we started the year with a piece of work by this designer, a gold collector coin dedicated to coinage in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and we end it with another one.”

Since the adoption of the European Union’s single currency — the euro — in Lithuania on January 1, 2015, the Bank of Lithuania may issue not only circulation coins but Lithuanian collector and commemorative coins as well. This year, collector coins on six topics were issued, as were two commemoratives. In addition to the commemorative coin dedicated to the Lithuanian language, the Bank of Lithuania and 18 other countries that have adopted the euro issued a 2-euro commemorative coin dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the EU flag (click here and here for examples).

The commemorative 2 euro coins dedicated to the Lithuanian language were minted at the UAB Lithuanian Mint. The mintage of the coin is one million, including 10 thousand of a higher (BU) quality in a numismatic package. The designers of the national side of the coin are Liudas Parulskis and Giedrius Paulauskis.

At its Cash Offices, the Bank of Lithuania offers coins for sale to numismatists (the price per package is €9). The remaining mintage is issued to banks as normal circulation currency; it will not be possible to obtain coins at the Bank’s Cash Offices at their nominal value.

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