Lithuania · Samogitia (Series: Lithuanian Ethnographic Regions)

Issue date10 Sept 2019

Total mintage500,000

EU maximum500,000

Editions2

Edge letteringLAISVĖ ★ VIENYBĖ ★ GEROVĖ ★

InscriptionPATRIA UNA / LIETUVA / ŽEMAITIJA / 2019

DesignerRolandas Rimkūnas

mintUAB Lietuvos monetų kalykla, Vilnius (Lithuania)

Issue occasion

The coin commemorates Samogitia (Samogitien), an ethnographic region of Lithuania. The design depicts the Samogitian coat of arms with a crowned shield and a bear standing on its hind legs and wearing a chain collar, which has been the heraldic animal of the region since the 16th century. The shield supporters are an armoured soldier symbolising courage, readiness to make sacrifices and patriotism, and a goddess with an anchor symbolising hope; below them is the Latin motto “PATRIA UNA” (“one fatherland”).

The design

Depicted is a bear standing on its hind legs and wearing a chain collar, the Samogitian heraldic animal since the 16th century. The bear appears on a shield surmounted by a crown. The supporters are a soldier in armor, symbolizing courage, willingness to sacrifice and patriotism, and a goddess with an anchor, symbolizing hope. Beneath the shield is the Latin inscription “PATRIA UNA” (“one homeland”). The coat of arms is framed above by the inscription “LIETUVA” (“Lithuania”), below by the inscription “ŽEMAITIJA” (“Samogitia”), as well as the year of issue “2019” and the mark of the Lithuanian Mint.

The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the coin’s outer ring.

Background on the topic

Samogitia (Samogitien), in Lithuanian Žemaitija, is located in northwestern Lithuania. The name is usually interpreted as “lowland” or “lower land” and thus contrasts with the name Aukštaitija, the “highland”. The region is not an administrative unit of its own today. Its boundaries are instead based on history, language, customs and regional identity. Samogitian is generally classified as a group of dialects of Lithuanian, but displays marked differences from the Lithuanian standard language.

In the Middle Ages, Samogitia occupied a special position. The territory lay between the possessions of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and the Livonian Order in the Baltic region. Its control would have enabled a land connection between the two Order territories. The region was therefore the subject of military conflicts and diplomatic agreements for a long period. Samogitian uprisings also made the Order’s permanent rule more difficult. Following the conflicts of the early 15th century, Samogitia remained with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Christianisation began here later than in other parts of Lithuania. Organised conversion began at the start of the 15th century; a separate diocese was established in 1417. Within the Grand Duchy and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (polnisch-litauischen Adelsrepublik), Samogitia possessed special institutional traditions as an eldership and, respectively, a duchy. Even after the loss of this political independence, the regional identity was preserved.

The 2019 issue was connected with the Year of Samogitia proclaimed by the Lithuanian parliament. The occasion was the first known written mention of the Samogitians in 1219, 800 years earlier. At the same time, the coin began a Lithuanian series on the country’s ethnographic regions. In the following years, Aukštaitija, Dzūkija and Suvalkija were also featured on their own 2-euro commemorative coins. The selection thus made regional diversity a subject of the state’s culture of remembrance.