The first coins on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were minted at the end of the 14th - early 15th centuries. Neither the date of coinage nor the name of the prince were indicated on them, which makes it very difficult to accurately determine the time of production and the ownership of a particular ruler.Denariuses - the so-called first coins of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - were minted from flattened pieces of wire. The silver coins were very small and weighed about 1 gram. There are several types of Lithuanian denarius. The difference is in images on the obverse and reverse. Modern scientists associate the beginning of coinage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the name of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagaila (1377–1381, 1382–1392), but such early coins are extremely rare, and they are not found in Belarusian collections. But the coins of the subsequent rulers are both in museum collections and in private collections.
Presented in the exposition of the Museum of Local Lore the denarius (another name - penyaz) refers to the time of the reign of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV Jagiellon (1440-1492). On the obverse of the coin you can see the image of the coat of arms “Kolumny” (or “Gedimin Pillars” - the heraldic sign of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania). On the reverse there is an image of a rider on a horse, with a sword in his right hand and a four-pointed spur below. The size of the coin is only 13 mm. The funds of the Museum-Reserve received the Denarius of Casimir IV in 1987.
