Lithuania has minted samples of the euro coins to be issued by the Bank of Lithuania by 2015. "The euro in Lithuania is taking an actual physical form - the Lithuanian coins with the 2015 date now exist not only on paper, but have been minted from metal as well. The circulation euro coin samples are high quality examples of coins – they will be the basis for the coins jingling in the purses of the Lithuanian population," says Vitas Vasiliauskas, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania.

According to him, mass-minting of the Lithuanian euro coins is planned for the end of summer, when the decision of the EU Council, regarding the euro adoption in Lithuania, will be announced. Until then, small amounts of test sample coins may be minted, seeking to test the coin blanks, minting tools and the coin measuring-control equipment. The overall demand for Lithuanian euro coins is around 370 million units.

The national side of the Lithuanian circulation euro coins was designed by Antanas Zukauskas. The obverse of all the coins will depict the symbol from Lithuania's emblem – Vytis. The edge of the Lithuanian 2 euro coin bears the inscription "LAISVĖ, VIENYBĖ, GEROVĖ" ("Freedom, Unity, Well-Being"). 

The previous Lithuania's attempt to enter the euro zone in 2007 failed due to its higher inflation rate than the EU standard. According to the Bank of Lithuania, the country's economic performances now meet all EU criteria.