Pictured Left to Right: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 Centas, 1, 2, 5 Litas
These are true free finds, more specifically, donations! I received these beautiful coins from my fiancees father. He recently went to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Croatia to do some research and get some inspiration for his architectural work in South East Asia. He designs hotels, among other things. Anyways, he saved these for me, as he knows that I'm an avid collector.
What I like about these coins is the fact that Lithuania, only until recently, has become an independent state and these coins represent the independent people of Lithuania. Yes it's true that they were independent before, in 1918, and then reoccupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, but upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became an independent state with their own numismatic identity.
The obverse of these coins has a depiction of the Lithuanian coat of arms; Vytis "The Chaser", while the reverse is quite plain and has the value of the coin on them. I quite like the 1-5 Centas coins as they are made of aluminum. A lot of people think that aluminum coins are boring and look cheap, but in fact, aluminum is quite expensive, durable and light-weight, which is the reason why the coins date-back to the creation of the Lithuanian nation-state (1992). The 10-50 Centas coins are made of nickel-brass, which give them a sense and feeling of luxury and richness (due to their weight and thickness). The 1 Litas coin is also quite nice, it is thick, heavy and made of copper-nickel, which also gives it a rich feeling. Finally, my 2 favorite coins, the 2 and 5 Litas bi-metallic coins. For some reason, I've always liked bi-metallic coins, they always stand out and they always feel expensive, no matter how worn-out the coins are.
Lithuania, like Latvia and Denmark is an ERM II member. Which means that once they meet certain criteria of the European Central Bank, their coins will cease to exist and the Euro will be introduced. It's not guaranteed, but the switch to Euros will eventually happen in Lithuania, and it will lose its numismatic identity. So save your Centas and Litas if you can!
The coins pictured are the best examples that I have in my collection, he gave me about 50 Litas worth of Lithuanian coins. These coins will be placed in non-PVC coin flips, while the others will be neatly placed in my safe, in a non-pvc bag labeled "Lithuania"!
Enjoy!
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