Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Litų Kęstutis, the Grand Duke of Lithuania
| Issuer | Bank of Lithuania |
|---|---|
| Year | 1999 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Milled |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Facing bust of Grand Duke Kęstutis depicted in a medieval heroic style, wearing an ornate helmet adorned with rivets and a bearded visage rendered with fine detail. The figure is shown in elaborate plate armor with decorative engravings, his hands clasped at the lower field, with a small figure of a warrior and the dates '1345 / 1382' incused in the lower right portion of the field, denoting his reign as Grand Duke of Lithuania. The surrounding legend, separated by raised dots, reads 'KĘSTUTIS · DIDYSIS · LIETUVOS · KUNIGAIKŠTIS' along the upper and lateral arc against a deeply mirrored proof background. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Kęstutis ruled as co-Grand Duke alongside his brother Algirdas in a rare arrangement that held the Lithuanian state together through the mid-14th century, each controlling a distinct sphere — Algirdas pushing east against the Tatars and Rus' principalities while Kęstutis spent decades fighting the Teutonic Knights on the western front. His capture by the Knights in 1361 and subsequent escape from Marienburg castle became one of the more celebrated episodes in Lithuanian historical memory. He was eventually murdered in 1382 on the orders of his own nephew, Jogaila.
This issue belongs to the series of commemorative silver coins the Bank of Lithuania produced through the 1990s to mark figures central to the nation's medieval statehood — a deliberate act of historical reclamation following independence in 1990.