On 22 June, the Bank of Lithuania issued into circulation a collector coin dedicated to the XXXII Olympic Games in Tokyo. This is the seventh addition to the central bank’s series of coins dedicated to the Olympic Games. This time, it commemorates rowing and Lithuanian rowers.
“We are continuing the tradition of sending off Lithuanian sportsmen to the Summer Olympics by releasing a silver collector coin. Full of hopes and expectations, we wish them luck in their challenging Olympic journey to faraway Tokyo,” said Asta Kuniyoshi, Deputy Chair of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania.
“The Tokyo Olympics are going to be unique in many aspects, thus I am quite sure that this collector coin will also be of special historic value,” said Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, President of the Lithuanian National Olympic Committee (LNOC) and Olympic gold medalist.
The obverse of the coin features a stylised quadruple scull and the logo of the LNOC. The reverse depicts a stylised bird’s-eye view of the Olympic rowing course in Tokyo and the inscription TOKIJAS (TOKYO) in the Lithuanian and Japanese languages. On the edge of the coin, there is an inscription XXXII OLIMPIADOS ŽAIDYNĖS (XXXII OLYMPIC GAMES). The coin was designed by Vladas Žukas.
Alongside the new coin, an electronic brochure is released, featuring an article by journalist Bronislovas Čekanauskas on the uniqueness of the Tokyo Olympics and the achievements of Lithuanian sportsmen at previous Olympic Games.
The mintage of the silver €20 coin, minted at the Lithuanian Mint, is 2,500 pcs.
The Bank of Lithuania’s Olympic coin series were first started in 1996 with a silver 50 litas coin dedicated to the Atlanta (US) Olympics, featuring basketball players. The coin dedicated to Sydney Olympics in 2000 featured a discus thrower, to Athens in 2004 – a cyclist, to Beijing in 2008 – a runner, to London in 2012 – sailors, and to Rio de Janeiro in 2016 – a swimmer. Sports to be featured on coins are selected hand in hand with the LNOC and are chosen based on the international achievements of Lithuanian sportsmen.
The new Olympic coin will be presented on Saturday, 26 June, at 17:00 (Lithuanian time), during Amber Oars International Regatta at Trakai Rowing Sports Base (Karaimų g. 73, Trakai). At the event, we will send our best wishes to Lithuanian rowers preparing for the Tokyo Olympics – Mindaugas Griškonis, Saulius Ritter, Aurimas Adomavičius, Milda Valčiukaitė, Donata Karalienė, Dovydas Nemeravičius and their coaches. The event will be attended by Asta Kuniyoshi, Deputy Chair of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, Daina Gudzinevičiūtė, President of the LNOC, and Dainius Pavilionis, President of the Lithuanian Rowing Federation. Invitations were also extended to the coin’s designer Vladas Žukas, the brochure’s author Bronislovas Čekanauskas and other representatives of the Bank of Lithuania, the Lithuanian Mint and the sports community.
Feel free to join the event!