Visitors to the exhibition will see medals, coins, unrealised graphic designs, money notes, and securities depicting Vilnius, its architecture and a range of historic figures who lived and created in the city.
‘Everyone in Lithuania – be they individuals, communities or institutions – has a relationship with Vilnius, and the Bank of Lithuania is no exception.
Urban growth and prosperity is inseparable from the successful operation of the central bank. Therefore, the Bank of Lithuania is proud to be part of celebrating the anniversary of Vilnius.
This exhibition is our gift to Vilnius, and visitors are invited to look at the city from a different angle: numismatics and bonistics. The exhibition and the entire museum is free to enter for all’, notes historian Karolis Tumelis, one of the event’s main organisers.
The majority of items on display were or could have been used in daily life, which is why they play a special role in preserving certain images, places, and public figures from Vilnius, and the links between them, in the collective memory.
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see medals designed by one of the most prominent Lithuanian medal makers of the 20th century, Petras Rimša, alongside unrealised graphic designs of collectable and commemorative coins, manufacturing tools, and other coins depicting our capital city’, observes historian and exhibition organiser Lina Žižliauskaitė.
For the organisers of the exhibition, housing the most impressive item in the collection posed many challenges. The most significant was faced by designer Kipras Lučinskas, who had to decide on how to display the bas-relief of Jonas Basanavičius created by Vincas Grybas.
‘It is the biggest item in the entire exhibition, measuring 84 cm in diameter and weighing tens of kilograms. Therefore, preparing its display required specialist skills and sheer physical strength.
Vincas Grybas proposed that the then Bank of Lithuania should manufacture and distribute medals designed on the basis of this bas-relief. Unfortunately, those plans failed’, reflected Ms Žižliauskaitė.
The exhibition in the Money Museum will be open until June 2024, and is partnered with the Lithuanian National Museum of Art and the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art.