Two-euro commemorative coins issued in Lithuania, which go for over 1,000 euros a piece due to a minting error, could have ended up in circulation, the Bank of Lithuania says. However, a specialist warns there is a risk of buying a counterfeit.
Back in May 2021, the Bank of Lithuania issued a 2-euro commemorative coin dedicated to the Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve.
Almost half a million coins were released into circulation, while another 5,000 were issued in BU quality (brilliant uncirculated) in numismatic packaging.
Collectors could purchase the latter for 9 euros from the Bank of Lithuania or through intermediaries.
The seemingly unremarkable coins became hugely popular within a few days of their release. It turns out that the Lithuanian Mint had minted some of the collector coins with a wrong edge.
Instead of the phrase “Laisvė, vienybė, gerovė” (“Freedom, Unity, Prosperity”) on the edge, some of the coins have the inscription “Dievs, svētī Latviju” (“God bless Latvia”).
Initially, the Bank of Lithuania informed that 500 coins with the error were only available in numismatic leaflets, so the only way to find a valuable and unique coin was to buy it in a special packaging.
However, later Ramunė Juzėnienė, head of the Bank of Lithuania’s Expertise and Technical Department, told LRT.lt that some faulty coins could have been put into circulation.
“According to the Mint, there is a small probability that while selecting BU-quality 2-euro coins, individual coins with an incorrect inscription on the edge could have entered the circulation (UNC-quality) coinage,” Juzėnienė said.
This means that a coin worth more than 1,000 euros could be lying in a cash register or someone’s wallet.
The price of money
Ads offering to sell the rare coins appeared online, asking between 1,000 and 2,500 euros for a coin in a numismatic package.
There are also ads offering to sell a coin that has been in circulation.
LRT.lt has contacted several sellers. One woman, who wanted 850 euros for the coin, said that she received it from a friend.
Another seller said that he had received the coin with the Latvian edge in a shop.
In one ad, the coin, which did not come in numismatic packaging, was certified by the Numismatic Guaranty Company in Germany.
The NGC has confirmed that the coin is genuine.
One woman selling the coin on the internet said that she had bought 20 coin rolls with the 2-euro Žuvintas Biosphere Reserve coins. When learned that there could be valuable examples among them, she checked all the rolls and found a coin with the Latvian inscription on the edge.
The woman was asking 1,700 euros for it and would not bargain. She also said she knew another person in Vilnius who had found a coin with the Latvian inscription.
Easy to counterfeit
Žilvinas Leškevičius, head of Florinus, a company that sells coins, warns that buying coins without numismatic packaging carries a high risk of counterfeiting.
“The centre of the coin is very easy to dislodge from the outer part. If you take a wooden stick with a hammer and hit it, the centre will easily fall out. Some people take a Latvian coin, take out the middle, and put the edge of the Latvian coin on the Lithuanian Žuvintas coin,” Leškevičius says.
“It’s really not difficult to counterfeit such a coin,” he adds.
But it would be more difficult to put a forged coin into a numismatic package, according to Leškevičius.
“Everything is possible, but it is difficult. The grade of the coins on the numismatic leaflet is BU, without any scratches, while the coins in circulation have scratches. Even coins on the roll that have not been circulated can be scuffed, whereas the coins on the numismatic leaflet should have no scratches at all. When they are struck, they are taken with gloves and placed in a package.
“The card itself would be difficult to forge. And if someone wanted to take another package, open it and swap the coin, it would show that the card had been opened, because they are laminated,” he notes.
Leškevičius own company has received offers to buy coins in circulation that have been minted with an error. “If I remember correctly, they offered to sell for 50 euros. There was a case when a man brought a coin with the Latvian edge to our shop in Klaipėda and said that he got it from a bartender friend,” says Leškevičius.
So far, he adds, foreign collectors are most interested in the Lithuanian coin with the Latvian edge. “We have sold several to Spain, France, Portugal,” he says.
Hard to spot a fake
Juzėnienė, of the Bank of Lithuania, says it can be difficult for a layperson to judge whether a coin is genuine.
“Cash experts can tell whether a coin presented for testing is genuine or counterfeit. Experienced collectors have their own methods and tools to evaluate coins. For the general public, however, this can be difficult to do with the naked eye. In any case, special knowledge and equipment are needed,” she says.
She notes that the Bank of Lithuania’s experts can tell the difference, but they do not work with collectors, only the police.
“Ordinary people can bring suspicious coins and notes to the Bank of Lithuania for examination, but it is examined as money, not as numismatic valuables,” she says.
If a coin or a note is found to be forged, the bank keeps it to be destroyed, while the owner is compensated in cash or bank transfer.
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