Although at the moment, like other Lithuanian museums, the doors of the Money Museum are closed to visitors, we still miss the visitors very much and even added new exhibits to the exposition. It's true that we don't have a lot of space, so in the Hall of Contemporary Money we have replaced the collection euro coins of the older issue with newer and much more relevant ones.
First of all, it should be mentioned in 2018 A series of four coins was issued to commemorate the centenary of the independence of the Republic of Lithuania. This series includes a gold coin for the signatories (€50) and three silver coins for diplomacy (€5), the armed forces (€10) and paramilitary structures and the legal system (€20).
This coin series consists of three ring-shaped silver coins, with a gold coin in the very center bearing facsimiles of the signatures of twenty of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. This is one of the most unique coin designs created in recent years. The author of the graphic design of these coins is the artist Liudas Parulskis.
By the way, this series of coins won the 37th Coin of the Year competition organized by JAV numismatic catalog publisher Krause Publications, held in Berlin, in the Most Innovative Coin category.
Another coin with a truly unique design - in 2019 a 10-euro silver coin dedicated to gender equality was issued. This is the first collectible coin that consists of two parts. Both obverse parts of the coin depict ice floes floating on a river, separated by a water gap. The sexes are never the same, they are shaped by the cold - there is also no equal attitude towards men and women, their rights. Declared gender equality is formal and not yet fully achieved. Both parts of the reverse depict spreading circles of water, connecting the parts of the coin into a common composition, and the symbols of Venus and Mars combined with them seem to express the harmony between the different sexes and their mutual understanding. The author of the graphic project of the coin is the artist Antanas Pocevičius.
In the exhibition, you can now also see a coin, which is particularly relevant at the moment. in 2020 a special 5-euro silver Hope coin was issued in the summer, perpetuating human fellowship and solidarity in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. On one side of the Hope coin, the year 2020 is illuminated by a light beam, the main symbol of the Hope coin. The shadow falling from the year digits forms the international distress signal SOS. The minimalist obverse of the coin depicts the pointer of a measuring device that has reached a dangerous limit: in the 5 euro silver coin, this limit is red. The words "Post tenebras spero lucem" - "After darkness I long for light" are engraved on the edge of the 5 euro Hope coin.
The author of the coin's graphic design is Marija Marcelionytė-Paliukė.
Recently, the Bank of Lithuania announced the selection of the most beautiful coin from the "Lituvos gamta" series. He won this election in 2020 a 10-euro silver coin dedicated to wooden beekeeping was issued.
The reverse of the coin depicts the ancient Lithuanian way of collecting honey from pine trees. A beekeeper climbing a tree with ropes, covering his head with a special covering that protects against bites, gathers honey, next to a swarm of bees.
The obverse of the coin features a stylized silhouette of Vytis formed from a swarm of bees and a honeycomb full of honey, which is colored in the silver coin. Stylized images of bees are on the edge. The author of the graphic design of the coins is Vytautas Narutis.
Finally, the whole "series" of new exhibits is crowned by the most unique coin. It is the most unique because it is the only one in the world so far. It is the world's first digital collectible coin created using blockchain technology, - LBCOIN. Last summer, the Bank of Lithuania issued 24 thousand. digital collectible tokens created using blockchain technology. Each token represents one of the twenty signatories, and collectors can attempt to collect the entire twenty token collection. Tokens are divided into six categories, taking into account the areas of activity of the signatories - 4 thousand each. units of each category.
Of course, we are not exhibiting tokens, but a physical coin linked to a digital collector coin. Its denomination is unusual - 19,18 EUR and is intended to commemorate this important date for Lithuania. The silver coin is the size and shape of a credit card and features the Declaration of Independence and the signatories.
Both physical collectible coins and digital tokens were designed by artist Giedrius Paulauskis.
So, this is one of the rare opportunities to see this coin live.
It is true that everyone will have to wait and wait until it is "live", but we really hope that we will be able to see you at the Money Museum very soon.
