 Source of image: www.nbrb.by
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| THE LEGEND OF THE TORTOISE
In the traditional culture of many peoples of the world, including in Belarusian folklore, the image of the tortoise is highly mythological and symbolic.
The tortoise's appearance and its biological and morphological features-specifically its hard shell that is able to withstand a heavy load, a "snake-like head", and a habitat by the aquatic environment - gave rise to the functionality of its mythic and poetic image.
The cosmogonic myths persist that the tortoise serves the main function as the support of the Earth and the embodiment thereof. It is the Belarusians' cosmologic belief that the tortoise also supports the world like the giant fish, three whales, etc.
In mythology of many nations the tortoise symbolizes wisdom as well as unhurried life and smooth pace thereof. It is associated with everything that is slow, strong, and stable and with negative connotation -everything that is ossified, amorphous, and clumsy as suggested, in particular, by the Belarusian saying 'Moves at a tortoise's pace'.
Belarusian legends describing the origin of the tortoise have several storylines where the reptile descends from: 1) a winged serpent that used to attack people and peck at their heads until God covered the creature with a skull; 2) a boa or a viper devouring people; 3) a woman who sheltered from thunder under a wash tub instead of crossing herself; and 4) a gossip woman who was covered by God with a skull so that she could only look down at her feet.
All these storylines have one thing in common - God covers the original creature with a skull as a punishment for one sin or another, As a result, only the head and the neck of the winged serpent are left exposed and the gossip woman is no longer able to look at other people and slander them.
The representation of the tortoise on the reverse the coin has features of heavenly, space, and earth images reflecting the plot of the legend about the origin of this creature. The head of the tortoise portrayed as the head of a serpent with the forked tongue which, according to one of the versions of the Belarusian folk legend, had wings and used to fly in the sky and attack people from there.
The bony shell has the shape of a general rhombus symbolizing the earth. The rhombus is in turn ornamented with small rhomb embellished with stylized pictures of houses, trees, fields and the gossip woman as symbols of mythological transformation.
The obverse of the coin is decorated in the style of the overall series - with the image of a wheel, the symbol of perpetual motion and continuity of the relationship among the present and the past and the future. The silhouettes of the tortoises and women whose image interweave in Belarusian legends are seen along the rim of the wheel.
A.M.Boganeva
Research Worker. the Yakub Kolas and Yanka Kupala Language and Literature Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus
V. A. Labacheuskaya
Assistant Professor, Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts
Text from the official flyer ”THE LEGEND OF THE TORTOISE” of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus
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| Date : 22.10.2010 |
| Metal : Cu/Ni |
| Diameter, mm : 32.00 |
| Weight, g : 15.50 |
| Mintage, St. : 3000 |
Minted by :
CJSC "Lithuanian Mint", Vilnius, Lithuania |
Design :
O.Novoselova | | | 
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Ebay-Statistic
(Prices in Euro):
| Year |
Count |
Ave
rage |
Min. |
Max. |
| 2006 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
| 2007 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
| 2008 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
| 2009 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
| 2010 |
5 |
10,30 |
9,50 |
12,00 |
| 2011 |
4 |
10,61 |
9,22 |
12,32 |
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