Brochure of the Coin

The author’s creative steps in creating the coin’s form.
Lithuanian
Collectors
Coins
The author of the coin’s form, artist Agnė Dautartaitė-Krutulė, through
the irregular arrangement of the perfectly circular coins on the reverse of
the coin creates an unpredictable and surprising illusion of movement, it
seems to hypnotise. As the coin captures silver mirror flashes, it creates
an image of a spiral that draws in the viewer. Although the circles do not
converge, they create the effect of purposeful movement. The author
created a small synergistic miracle — no matter which way the coin is
tilted (together with the symbol from the coat of arms of Lithuania —
Vytis), the functional elements of the Vytis and the denomination are still
proportional.
The depiction of the Vytis on the coin seems to be almost hidden. In the
minting of Lithuanian collectors coins, such technology has been used
for the first time. The author created a new modification of the Vytis, the
national coat of arms; she attempted to express the delicate metaphysical
level of the rider’s silhouette: this figure becomes clear only by looking
very closely. On the obverse and reverse of the coin the author produced
the illusion of rotation and movement. At first glance the symbol on the
obverse is hard to see, but a more careful look reveals the depiction of the
Vytis, recognisable once the optical illusion of movement is conquered.
Although the symbol has lost its concreteness and clarity, the association
is still clear.
The objects created by the author, due to the optical illusion of rotation,
seem almost deformed — by looking at it for a longer period of time it
seems as if the form is changing. Due to this illusion, the size of the coin
seems to be entirely different than it really is. The coin looks larger, thinner.
Its convexity only strengthens this illusion — with the coin in your hand
it seems as if you can feel the power of infinite space. In rotating the coin
everyone will be able to experience the moment when the realistic view
turns into an illusory play of space and light, the play of colours on the
frosted and mirrored surface of the coin. With this coin that she created
the author seems to have given tribute and respect to one of the major
Lithuanian artists of the 20th c., Kazimieras Žoromskis (1913–2004), who
had created examples of glossy and matte frescoes during his studies at
the Royal Art Academy of Rome, while his paintings, done in the style of
optical impressionism, achieved international acclaim.
The author included an inclusion in the coin — this is the first case in
the history of the school of coin creation in Lithuania, although in the
international coin minting tradition this artistic solution has already been
done. The spherical silver ball is not a unique detail, but it is an important
accent, due to which the effect of optical rotation intensifies.
The Bank of Lithuania has issued a bimetal collectors coin, rectangular
and regular dodecagon-formed collectors coins. A double hidden image
was used in several coins — when the coin is tilted, at a certain angle two
different visual elements can be seen. Enamel technique has been used;
a coin was minted that had an oval hole. This newest coin will not only be
different because of its larger diameter. Due to the convex form achieved
through the minting process, the use of the inclusion and the principles
of optical art, it is considered the most technological coin in the history
of Lithuanian collectors coins. At the same time it is the last litas coin.
In creating it the author purified the idea of saying goodbye to the litas
— in holding the coin in your hand, you can feel the unique vibration of
transformation, or metamorphosis.
Dr Arūnas Dulkys
50 LITAS COIN “FORM”
Silver Ag 925
Quality proof
Weight 28.28 g
The edge of the coin is plain.
Author of the coin — Agnė Dautartaitė-Krutulė
Mintage 3,000 pcs.
Issued 2014
Information is available at the Bank of Lithuania
Tel. (85) 268 0316
El. p. gpt@lb.lt
www.lb.lt
The coin was minted at the
UAB Lithuanian Mint
www.lithuanian-mint.lt
Lithuanian Collectors Coins
© Bank of Lithuania, 2014
The coins were photographed by Arūnas Baltėnas
Designed by Liudas Parulskis
The publication used material from the photo-archives of the Bank of Lithuania,
the Lithuanian Mint and the coin’s author
Published by the Bank of Lithuania, Gedimino pr. 6, LT-01103 Vilnius
Printed by UAB LODVILA, www.lodvila.lt
50 LITAS COIN
“FORM”
Lithuanian coin seeks to
conquer time and space
It is believed that in 4,000 BCE the Sumerians invented the wheel. This was one
of the most important discoveries of mankind. Several millenniums passed until
the solid wooden disc gained the classic form of a circle with spokes. In the history
of mankind the second most important circular invention after the wheel was the
coin, which appeared in about the 7th c. BCE.
The production of the first coins, which appeared in our land in the 14th c., was
rather primitive, while their quality was poor. No one raised creative requirements
for the form — functionality was most important. Artistic and minting quality
began to improve at the end of the 16th c. In later ages their variety began to
increase, but most attention was still paid to functionality and convenience. Only
technological advances of the 20th c. allowed not only collectors, but also circulation
coins to become true works of art. Competition between minters across national
borders began; international coin contests started, achievements in coin minting
were evaluated according to a wide variety of criteria and categories. Differently
than bullion coins, collectors coins are subject to the highest technological, minting
quality and artistic requirements. Collectors coins enrich cultural heritage, represent
their nations in the global world, fulfilling the expectations of even the most
demanding collectors and numismatists. Although formally they are a means of
payment and settlement, factually they do not perform this function; therefore the
creators of these coins are given more leeway in terms of technical characteristics,
design and form.
In our times, quality requirements are particularly stringent: mirror proof-category
coin surface and the three-dimensional frost-like matt relief have to be precise to
the smallest detail. Mints select only the highest-quality blanks, each one of which
is carefully polished; the force used for striking has to be calculated, the necessary
tools are produced only with precision instruments, the blanks are fed into the press
and the minted coins removed only manually, their surface is protected from finger
prints. Each side of the coin is subjected several times to hundreds of tonnes of
pressure from the press, while the minted coins are immediately specially packed
to avoid their further contact with other surfaces.
In the world there appeared, next to circular-shaped ones, collectors coins
consisting of several parts, bimetal and trimetal, triangle and rectangle,
polygon and undulating, coins weighing a kilogram or even more. Coins
have been decorated with jewels, various minerals, amber and ceramics;
sometimes the relief is covered with paint or glass enamel. Now it is more
difficult to create the minting tools, calculate the striking force, the dies
wear out sooner. Uniquely-shaped coins have special-made blanks, so
that with the application of pressure the expanding metal of the blank
fills properly and accurately the relief of the coin. In minting undulating
coins it is particularly difficult to ensure that the relief is properly filled in
the right directions with the expanding metal of the blank. In the 21st c.,
laser-technology stormed the world of coin design, and three-dimensional
images were created.
Optical deception or other optical illusions in works of art is not something
new. This is called op art or optical art — characterised by abstractionism
with rhythmically repeating realistic elements depicted in such a way
that they create an optical illusion of movement and space. This is a deep
dialogue between form and content, a difficult issue of thought and
technology: how to achieve the illusion that from one point a certain image
can be seen while from another point a different image is seen, and so that
the image would be distorted only in space, while the human eye would
see it as it is.
In coin minting the principles of op art are especially difficult to apply,
because something that can be drawn looks different in metal. Optical art
is usually presented on a flat plane, while on a coin it is in relief form, and
this height of mastery is achievable by not every creator. The height of the
coin relief in minting technologies has special restrictions; therefore it is
difficult to give sphericity to the image only through the relief of the coin.