O nouă monedă comemorativă din Lituania - 23.04.2022

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Today, Thursday, April 21, a commemorative 2-euro legal tender coin is put into circulation in Lithuania in all the countries of the eurozone, with which the «100 Years of Basketball in Lithuania» are celebrated, a coin that not only pays tribute to the basket sport, also recalls how it served them during Soviet times as a symbol of national identity in the face of oppression.

Basketball was invented in the late 19th century by an American physical educator, physician James Naismith, and was soon adapted to be played by women. On March 22, 1893, in the United States, the first women's basketball game was played between the freshmen and sophomores of Smith College in Boston.

The first basketball competition in Lithuania and the beginning of national basketball in general is considered to have been the match between the Lithuanian Union of Physical Education (LUPT) and the Provisional Capital (Kaunas) team on April 23, 1922, and that he won the LUPT with a score of 8:6. Furthermore, Lithuania is closely associated with an even earlier period in basketball history.

The design of the coin, the work of Egidijus Rapolis, shows the map of Lithuania as if it were a basketball court. At the top is the name of the issuing state "LIETUVA", at the bottom the years of commemoration "1922 -2022", the last number also serves as the year of issue. At the bottom right is the mint mark of the Lithuanian Mint.

The edge of the coin, like all those issued by Lithuania in this value, will bear the legends: LAISVĖ * VIENYBĖ * GEROVĖ * (FREEDOM * UNITY * WELFARE *).

The issue volume of this coin will be 750,000 pieces, of which 7,500 in Bu quality are presented in a coincard, the rest have begun to be distributed today in the classic rolls of 25 coins.

The meaning of basketball for Lithuania

 

 

In Lithuania, basketball has always been an important part of culture, a specific social phenomenon and part of politics. Just before World War II, the Lithuanian men's basketball teams became European champions twice (1937 and 1939), and in 1938, the Lithuanian women's basketball teams were second on the continent. In the World War II refugee camps, basketball was a way to preserve memories of the homeland, Lithuania. Valdas Adamkus, who later became the second President of Lithuania when its independence was restored, also stayed in one of those camps.

During Soviet times, being Lithuanian was also inseparable from basketball. Although Lithuanian talents were unable to play under their own flag, basketball eventually became one of the reasons for the national renaissance, when Kaunas Žalgiris' victories against CSKA Moscow in the 1980s were perceived by the nation as victories achieved by Lithuania itself.

During Soviet times, Lithuania managed to maintain its identity despite oppression, eventually reestablishing its independence. As an independent state, it was proposed to once again make the name of Lithuania known throughout the world. In 1992 in Barcelona, ​​at the first Olympic Games after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the Lithuanian men's national basketball team received international acclaim, winning one of two Olympic medals and being dubbed the Other Dream Team. Lithuanian basketball players, already famous throughout the world for their successful careers while playing for the Soviet Union team, did much more than show off their talent on the basketball court. The bronze medal they won playing against the Unified Team, made up of the post-Soviet states.

2 euro commemorative coins 2022

2 euro commemorative coins from Lithuania

 

 

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