Post-communist coinage of Lithuania

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The reverse of the 50 centu coin of 1997.

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In 1998, a new 1 litas coin was issued.

The new coin was 22.3mm in diameter, while the old one was 16.75mm.

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The new 2 litai coin design of 1998.

It is bimetallic.

Like the other coins in the new series, it is still in use today.

Note that the country name (obverse) has been moved to the top of the coin.

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The new 5 litai coin design of 1998, also bimetallic.

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In 1999 Lithuania issued a special 1 litas coin, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of "The Baltic way".

People across the Baltic states had linked hands to show their solidarity against the Soviet Union.

The Baltic states, were all still part of the Soviet Union at that time.

See: Wikipedia - the Baltic Way

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Lithuania issues a special commemorative 1 litas coin each year.

Often the obverse depicts an interesting variation of Vytis.

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Currently Lithuania hopes to join the euro zone in 2014.

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That 2010 litas seems to be the only one where the horseman is left-handed. In fact, that solves a problem.

On the earlier coins you show, Vytis is ready to strike with his sword. That means the enemy is nearby. Now, a well trained Vytis would in those circumstances hold his shield in front of him, rather than dangling from his upper arm. However, if he would be shown being good, you wouldn't see his coat of arms. Medieval artists often did not have this problem, because they would show the horse cloaked in a leather cover, decorated all over with the arms of the rider, or they would simply have the knight ride the other way. The problem of the naked horse is neatly solved by making Vytis left-handed, as it allows the shield to assume its protective position while showing the coat of arms.

In fact, left-handed knight had an advantage in combat when attacking from the left flank: their sword arm did not have to reach across their body to attack, so the pointy business part of their sword could reach farther (contrary to what is often shown on video, in attacking, swords are most effective for stabbing, not swinging).

Peter

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See also:

01] Bessarabia, Moldavia, Moldova and Transnistria.

02] Coinage of Belarus.

03] Coinage of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

04] Coinage of modern Serbia.

05] Coinage of North Macedonia.

06] Coinage of the Czech Republic.

07] Croatia: post-Yugoslav coinage.

08] Czechoslovak heroes on post-communist circulation coins.

09] Hungary: post-communist coinage.

10] Poland: Design series of 1995.

11] Post-communist coinage of Albania.

12] Post-communist coinage of Lithuania.

13] Post-communist coinage of Romania.

14] Slovakia's first post-communist coin series.

15] Slovenia: post-Yugoslav coinage.

16] Romanian and Moldovan Variations of the 1990s.

17] The final coin series of Yugoslavia.