Vilnius is celebrating its 700th birthday. The first written mention of its establishment as the capital of Lithuania was in the letters of Grand Duke Gediminas, sent to the great cities of the Hanseatic League in Europe in 1323. His first letter was sent to Pope John XXII in Avignon in the summer of 1322.
The commemorative medal, minted especially for the anniversary by Monetų namai, shows Gediminas sitting on a throne, holding his famous letters on the obverse, with the Latin inscription “Gediminas King of Lithuanians and many Ruthenians” at the base and the year 1323 at the top. The reverse depicts a bird’s-eye panorama of Vilnius, with the Gediminas Tower in the foreground.
The medal was designed by Lina Kalinauskaitė, and produced in limited editions of various metals. There are 25,000 in bronze (38,61 mm in diameter, weighing 28 grams), and 5,000 in gold-plated bronze.
