Favorites

The Lithuanian Mint’s Rasos Svente 5 Euro was voted the “Best Silver Coin” at the 2020 Coin of the Year Awards (COTY). The award-winning colored coin, dated 2018, commemorates Joninės (or Rasos), a midsummer celebration that is held in Lithuania on the night of June 23rd every year. 

The Joninės (Rasos) coin is the second from the series, “Traditional Lithuanian Celebrations.” The first one, dedicated to Kaziukas’ Fair, was issued in 2017. The Lithuanian Mint launched the series in an effort to boost interest in its coins, an effort that the prestigious COTY award will certainly support.

‘We started this series as a way to expand the range of numismatic coins and encourage more people to take up collecting as a hobby,” said Marius Jurgilas, Member of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania. “We intend to issue ten coins within the series, all of which will commemorate various celebrations – both those that are deeply rooted in our traditions and contemporary ones.”

Designed by Eglė Ratkutė, the reverse of the Rasos Svente 5 Euro features symbols characteristic of the Lithuanian midsummer celebration Joninės, also known as the Dew Feast: a blooming fern, the moon, the sun, and a greenery wreath that twists into a whirlwind. A “fern blossom” is at the center, as if peeking through a colored drop of dew. The fern blossom was created using a pad-printing technology. The composition is surrounded by the inscriptions “JONINĖS” and “RASOS ŠVENTĖ” (Dew Feast).

The obverse of the coin features the coat of arms of Lithuania made up of stylized droplets of water. The obverse also includes the name of the state “LIETUVA” (Lithuania), and the year of issue “2018,” denomination “5€,” and the mintmark of the Lithuanian Mint.

The 5 Euro coin is comprised of silver (.925). It weighs 12.44 g and measures 28.7 mm in diameter. The coin has a mintage of only 3,000 pieces, but is still available on the Lithuanian Mint’s website.