The Bank of Lithuania has issued into circulation a 50 litas collectors (commemorative) silver coin dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Orsha.

“The Battle of Orsha was fought on 8 September 1514, between the allied forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland, under the command of Hetman Konstanty Ostrogski; and the army of the Grand Duchy of Moscow under Konyushy Ivan Chelyadnin and Kniaz Mikhail Golitsin. The Battle of Orsha was part of a long series of Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars conducted by Russian rulers striving to gather all the former Kievan Rus' lands under their rule.

According to Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii by Sigismund von Herberstein, the primary source for information on the battle, the much smaller army of Poland–Lithuania (under 30,000 men) defeated a force of 80,000 Russian soldiers, capturing their camp and commander.

The obverse of the coin features a stylized coat of arms of the Republic of Lithuania, Vytis on a shield in the centre, which is surrounded by the inscriptions LIETUVA 2014, 50 LITŲ (LITHUANIA 2014, 50 LITAS). There is also the mintmark of the Lithuanian Mint on the obverse of the coin.

The reverse of the coin features a portrait of Konstantinas Ostrogiškis against a background of fragments of the Battle; there is the inscription DIDYSIS LDK ETMONAS KONSTANTINAS OSTROGIŠKIS (THE GRAND HETMAN OF THE GDL KONSTANTINAS OSTROGIŠKIS) at the bottom and the inscriptions ORŠOS MŪŠIS (THE BATTLE OF ORSHA) and the anniversary year of the Battle – 500 at the top.

Silver Ag 925
Diameter 38.61 mm, Weight 28.28 g
Quality proof
The edge of the coin bears cannons, the symbols of one of the factors that contributed to the victory of the Battle.

Designed by Rolandas Rimkūnas ir Giedrius Paulauskis

Mintage 3,000
Issued in 2014
The coin was minted at the state enterprise Lithuanian Mint.

Source of information: Bank of Lithuania: www.lb.lt