On 30 November, the Bank of Lithuania issued into circulation the €5 gold collector coin dedicated to Agricultural Sciences, which will be the fifth addition to the series “Lithuanian Science”.
“Today, with ecology, climate change and greening strategies gaining increasingly more attention, the importance of agricultural sciences is growing as well, as they contribute to the sustainable use of natural resources. This is the fifth coin issued in commemoration of Lithuania’s scientific achievements,” said Asta Kuniyoshi, Deputy Chair of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania. The series already features coins dedicated to Heart Surgery, Baltic Studies, Physics and Technological Sciences.
The coin brochure lists various achievements of the Lithuanian agricultural sciences, including methods for identifying, diagnosing and assessing soil, over 350 agricultural and 300 horticultural plant varieties, technological processes for agricultural machinery and equipment, ranging from elementary agricultural machines to precise, robotised systems operated via satellite.
“The knowledge garnered through the years is used for developing agriculture – an important sector of the Lithuanian economy – as a whole, ensuring the rational use of natural resources, preserving the clean natural environment, providing food to the population, and supplying the industry with raw materials,” stated Prof. habil. Dr. Zenonas Dabkevičius, the author of the coin brochure.
The obverse of the coin features an outline of Lithuania and the Vytis – the coat of arms of the Republic of Lithuania – formed from a motif of plots of arable land. The reverse depicts a motif of the World Tree formed from intertwining DNA strands and stalks of grain. The coin was designed by Rytas Jonas Belevičius and minted at the Lithuanian Mint.
The mintage of the coin dedicated to Agricultural Sciences is 2,500 pcs. Like the other coins in the series, it is also a miniature one, weighing only 1.244 g.
