Banks, Economic History, Financial Services, Good for Business, Lithuania

The issuance of coins dedicated to Kaziukas’ Fair, is ‘a first’ in several aspects. It is the first coin in the series ‘Traditional Lithuanian Celebrations’, the first collector coin to be dedicated to Kaziukas’ Fair in particular and, finally, the first coin to be issued in such a peculiar denomination – €1.5. Such denomination is a playful allusion to the Lithuanian pusantrokas (an old 1.5-groat coin), struck at the Vilnius Mint in the 17^th c. – the same century that saw the rise of the fair itself,’ said Mindaugas Vaičiulis, Director of the Banking Service of the Bank of Lithuania, Chair of the Board of the Lithuanian Mint.

Against a heart-shaped background, the reverse of the coin depicts the most distinctive attributes of Kaziukas’ Fair: a verba, pitcher, spoons, hobby horse, rooster, ring-shaped roll, and a wagon wheel.

‘The heart depicted on the coin not only represents the traditional heart-shaped Kaziukas’ Fair cookies, but is also a symbol of love. When we buy gifts at the fair, we do so with love, right? The image on the silver coin, coloured as if with sugar icing, almost makes you taste the sweetness,’ said Rytas Jonas Belevičius, the designer of the coin. According to him, the non-traditional Vytis symbol on the coin’s obverse was inspired by fragments of hearth tiles from the time of Casimir Jagiellon (Kazimieras Jogailaitis), found in Vilnius Lower Castle.