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THERE’S A NEW EURO coin in circulation from today with Lithuania’s national coat of arms – a knight on horseback with sword and shield – on one side.
You’ll be used to seeing euro coins (like those below) from many different countries, and this coat of arms, which has appeared on the Lithuania’s national currency since the 14th century, will be the latest addition.
Lithuania welcomed a New Year and a new currency today, becoming the last Baltic nation to adopt the euro in a bid to boost stability despite fears of inflation and eurozone debt woes.
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius withdrew his first €10 from a Vilnius cash machine after midnight, as fireworks signed off a year marked by alarm over Russia’s role in the Ukraine conflict and its economic crisis.
“The euro will serve as a guarantee for our economic and political security,” Butkevicius said at a ceremony alongside officials from Estonia and Latvia.
“The transition to the new currency was smooth and successful,” Lithuanian central bank governor Vitas Vasiliauskas told reporters, as the country became the 19th member of the eurozone.
As shops opened on New Year’s Day, customers said they needed to think twice to assess the value of items in euros, instead of litas.
“Everything seems cheap,” said 32-year-old Kastytis Backis, as he left a supermarket in the capital Vilnius.
The two currencies will circulate together as legal tender for two weeks. Dual pricing will remain until June.
Lithuania brought in 132 million individual banknotes — which are standard across the eurozone — from the German Bundesbank but minted its own euro coins.
Additional reporting AFP
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Bring back our own currency
Exactly!
Why?
Poor guys, they must have some natural resources and/or an ignorant population.
Fingers crossed for them.
they have water. that’s enough for the EU. blue gold.
Water isn’t blue Simon, but I 100% agree otherwise.
Nice coin in fairness.
A proper looking coin.
Amazing to think the same coat of arms is used on their currency since the 14th century
It’s also amazing to think that countries still mint coins with the head of state in the period the coin was minted on them, a tradition dating back to Roman times.
Lithuania is a dying country. It’s main export is cheap labour to western European countries such as Germany, France and the Uk. Within 10 years there will be few people left under the age of 50
10 years is a bit of an exaggeration. Lithuania’s exports are worth about $29 billion a year and their economy is based on a wide variety of industries, while exporting the majority of their products/services. I don’t know where you’re getting your non-existent statistics from, but they’re just wrong.
They don’t actually count people as ‘exports’ you jack-ass. That was said figuratively.
More people from Lithuania moved to Ireland in 2014 than all thoses countries you mentioned.
Whats that Skippy? Lassie and Flipper fell down a well? I hope the make up your own fairy tales book didn’t fall in with them!
You seem to have an opinion on everything Skippy but honestly what on earth would you know about the future of Lithuania?
10 years ago Ireland was on a grave train with biscuit wheels and most professional economists predicted a soft landing but sure look at us now.
Lithuania has many economic and social problems but despite this it is a relatively prosperous country, to write them off is pure ignorance.
Scipio, of course I know it was said figuratively, but a $29 billion export market for a country with a population of 3million is pretty damn significant, yet you simply write it off with your yet again made up fairy tale facts
Don’t tell RTE whose business page still quotes exchange rates for Slovenian Tolar & Cypriot Pound despite the fact they adopted the Euro on the 1st Jan 2007. Eight years ago! They also quote rates for Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia & Malta. This is what our licence fee goes on, fantasy exchange rates for non existent currencies that mysteriously fluctuate. I kid you not. This is what happens when you rely on American source for business information.
http://www.rte.ie/news/business/markets/euroexchangerates/
The business page you speak about is linked from sharewatch.com, a different website. RTE cannot change it!
http://digitallook.sharewatch.com/fx_rates?action=latest_fx&base_cur=3
“You’ll be seeing this new euro coin in your purse very soon…” does the author think everyone has a purse an not wallets?
@Byyys. Correct it is linked to another website. RTE can change it. They could get their business info from a reliable source & not some dodgy website based in the USA who obviously either haven’t a clue what they are doing or are deliberately trying to make the Euro zone appear smaller and less significant. These fictional currencies actually fluctuate according to RTE. This goes way beyond a mere error, this is a fiction that is maintained daily but to whose benefit? Not the Euro and certainly not RTE’s credibility. All this time RTE have been aware of this yet they refuse to take down the misinformation.
Why would any country join the Euro after all that happened?
More to the the point why are any of us staying in the eu get the feck out that’s my opinion, would be a high cost to do it but has to be cheaper then the cost of staying in the fecked up eu
Is that an expert opinion Mick?
We’ve learnt from our mistakes and implemented new rules on deficits. The Euro currency will be stronger for it and will offer a more stable future than many fluctuating weak currencies.
Ray ya it is,
On what grounds are you an expert?
@Jason
All of them
Your comment implies that you are an expert Ray, so as an expert do you not think there is Some merritt in Ireland leaving the EU? Works well for Switzerland and Norway.
Do you honestly think that Norway with its vast oil reserves & Switzerland a hub of world banking with a currency even more stable than the old German Mark are comparable with Ireland? Seriously?
Well with an attitude like that we’ll never know, it is often said that the EU did a lot for this country but that ignores what we could have do for our selves outside it.
Sure Norway have oil and the Swiss have morals boarding on the criminal but that’s not an excuse for us to dismiss one day leaving the EU if it becomes contrary to our own interests.
@Luke’s. I am not dismissing it but it would bring as many problems as it would solve. There are a lot of posters here who seem to think that leaving the Euro will solve everything and all will be rosy in the garden once more. Would that it were so simple.
Obviously withdrawing from the EU would have its risks. In The end those who have the most to lose are the ones who fear it The most and conveniently enough also have all the power.
No one would doubt that the euro was a huge mistake for Ireland, we could have really done with a flexible currency over the past few years.
The Germans are going through a golden age of exports because the have a currency linked to the likes of Ireland and Greece. They have benefited from The euro but did very little to help us and forced us to save their currency.
The EU is also anti democratic and I honestly think we should consider leaving. Our hand could be forced over the next few years with the referendum in the UK next year.
A lot Brits like to jump up and down and whine about Europe but that translating into votes is another matter. Britain’s financial woes begin and end with its crazy spending on pointless foreign wars and maintaining a nuclear arsenal. If they did leave it would have serious repercussions here, for one thing the border actually becoming a real border. Leaving the Euro is one thing leaving the EU is another day’s debate.
But … But … But I don’t own a purse!
Brilliant, lets celebrate by leaving the eurozone.
Jumping on when it’s doomed
http://m.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/03/why-the-euro-is-doomed-in-4-steps/274470/
@Gavin R. One guys opinion in an American online magazine said it,so it must be true.
Anti EU Americans and Euro skeptic Brits have been predicting the failure of the Euro since the establishment of the EMS. Has not happened yet in spite of the best efforts of some them to kill it. My betting is it will be around at least as long as the sovereign
And all They had to do was undermine the electorate of a few minor countries like Greece and Italy.
To save it.
It won’t be there for long
Why?
Little do they know…
From the 15th of January there will also be Euros from Andorra http://euros.ad/euros-andorrans
“… in your purse”?
I don’t own a purse
I like to se a man riding on the back of a coin
still on the sauce?
Never stop, nobody likes a quitter
well we’d love it if you’d just quit.
There is a support group out there !!
I dont have a purse.
Sexist headline.
There’s a lot of them living here so why not have their currany logo on the coins
And this is news WHy
Anything to avoid having to listen to news about people protesting about water charges.
God bless their optimisim joining this currency worse thing we ever done I know I’ll be in the minority we should have keep our own currency and identity just like the UK hasn’t affected them at all
Can you repeat in English and with punctuation?
You mean like the pound we had that was tied to sterling or the punt that was tied to the EMS. Why not go the whole hog and rejoin the federated nations of the north Atlantic archipelago.
The pound sterling lost over 30% of its value against the Euro & only recently has it clawed back some of this to about 13%. The British economy is every bit as fragile as ours except their debt ratio is not as bad. They went into recession long before us & will probably recover before us too. Remember how George Soros, one man forced us to devalue our Punt? Leaving the Euro is not a panacea for all our ills.
I’d say you’d see more Irish euro coins in Lithuania that Lithuanian euro coins in Ireland cos thats what happens to most money Eastern Europeans earn/scam off social welfare here.
Many people in Ireland have close friendships with people from eastern Europe so they don’t buy that nonsense any more.
That’s right Ron ALL, every single one of them from EVERY eastern European country that ever came to Ireland are on the take. ALL Irish people are saints and our piss is holy water. We never went to Holland, England or Germany signed on and worked on the black. Not one of us. Ever. What make me wonder though is how could they steal all our jobs and sign on at the same time? Isn’t life in black and white so much easier Ron?
I would agree with you fully. I have been travelling to Lithuania for nearly ten years now and have spent many months and weeks there, living there myself this summer. It is a beautiful country with lots of young cosmopolitan people who want to live and work in their own country. My Girlfriend (a well educated woman to masters level in law) at the time never came here because she had a good job there and didnt see anything better here for herself. One must put everything into perspective, its only people who cant get a decent job that comes here, they dont just leave, they all have family’s and friends, why would they want to just leave all that behind, fact is they dont, a certain number leaves and I can nearly guarantee if the euro does well by Lithuania you will see a massive number returning in the near future. They have very close family’s and generally like to be close to them. When I was there I met many Italians, French and Spanish all working there after leaving their own countries because they could not find work. It works all ways. I also met many English there, and a Kiwi working there too.You have to understand a place before you people go commenting about it.
Why do this in a time of austerity?
The excitements too much for me tsk
@Ten ok I apologise that I used an American article. Will this help. It’s a British article. Now there is more could be 50+ if you want me to post links.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/dec/14/eurozone-crisis-history-repeating-itself-again
The British have a dog in this fight too, don’t forget. It is in their interest to keep capital in London & not Frankford.
I too can find you 50+ articles that say the opposite but it proves little. I am not here to debate the merits or otherwise of the Euro but it is delusional to think it is on its last legs.
have your say