Euro coins celebrating 100 years of the Bank of Lithuania

The year 2022 marks the centenary of the establishment of the Bank of Lithuania, the country’s central bank. The Bank of Lithuania strengthens the stability of the country’s financial sector, actively acts as a center of excellence in financial and economic issues, promotes competition in the payment services market and seeks new forms of supervision of financial institutions. Within the framework of the Eurosystem, it cooperates with the European Central Bank and other central banks of the euro area in taking decisions on the euro area’s monetary policy and its implementation.

Re-established on March 1, 1990, the Bank of Lithuania continues the traditions of the country’s central bank that operated during the interwar period. Plans to establish a bank of issue in Lithuania and introduce a national currency began immediately after the restoration of the state in 1918.

However, due to the difficult financial situation, the Bank of Lithuania started its activities only in 1922. The Laws on Monetary Unity and on the Bank of Lithuania were adopted on August 9 and 11, 1922, respectively, and the Bank was officially established on September 27, 1922, and started its activities on October 2. The main objective of the Bank of Lithuania was to regulate the circulation of currency, to facilitate cash withdrawals, to establish a sound and sustainable monetary system and to promote the development of agriculture, industry and trade.

The Bank was granted the right to issue bank bills for a period of 20 years. It could also carry out treasury and savings bank operations of the state, manage and pay the state’s debt, provide commercial credits, etc.

Vladas Jurgutis (1885-1966) became the first Governor of the Bank of Lithuania. The headquarters of the Bank of Lithuania at the intersection of K. Donelaičio and Maironio in Kaunas was built 6 years after the establishment of the Bank, specifically to meet the needs of the central bank.

The Bank of Lithuania currently employs over 600 people and has been headed by Gediminas Šimkus since April 2021.

Obverse

The obverse of the coin shows part of the interior of the Bank of Lithuania building in Kaunas – a symbol of the origin of the Lithuanian central bank in the interwar period, one of the most impressive buildings symbolizing the prosperity of Kaunas.

The gallery on the second floor is surrounded by a balustrade, the glass ceiling of the operating room is surrounded by caissons, painted with historical and mythological motifs (even today, visitors to the Bank of Lithuania can still admire the view). On the left side, the composition includes the Vytis, the symbol of Lithuania’s coat of arms, the inscription “Lietuva” (Lithuania), the face value and the logo of the Lithuanian Mint.

Reverse

The artistic composition of the reverse side of the coin conveys a vision of the future in the language of symbols, incorporates the inscription “Lietuvos bankui 100” (Centenary of the Bank of Lithuania) and part of the logo of the Bank of Lithuania, the 2022 vintage of the coin.

Sources: Bank of LITHUANIA and NUMISMAG