Lithuanian litas Lietuvos litas (Lithuanian)
The 5, 2, and 1 litas coins, standard versions
ISO 4217 Code	LTL
User(s)	Lithuania
Inflation	3. ISO 4217 is the International standard describing three-letter codes (also known as the currency code) to define the names of currencies established Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the In economics inflation or price inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over a period of time 6%
Source	The World Factbook, 2006 est.
ERM
Since	28 June 2004
Fixed rate since	2 February 2002
€ =	3. The European Exchange Rate Mechanism, ERM, was a system introduced by the European Community in March 1979 as part of the European Monetary System (EMS Events 1098 - Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Please update other articles as well to avoid contradiction within Wikipedia e 45280 litai
Band	pegged in practice, 15% de jure
Subunit
1/100	centas
Symbol	Lt
Plural	litai (nom. In many national currencies, the cent is a monetary unit that equals 1/100 of the basic monetary unit A currency sign is a graphic symbol often used as a shorthand for a Currency 's name Plural is a Grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the Referent in the real world pl. ) or litų (gen. Lithuanian grammar is the study of rules governing the use of the Lithuanian language. pl. )
centas	centai (nom. In many national currencies, the cent is a monetary unit that equals 1/100 of the basic monetary unit pl. ) or centų (gen. Lithuanian grammar is the study of rules governing the use of the Lithuanian language. pl. )
Coins	1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 centų, 1, 2, 5 litai
Banknotes	10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 litų
Central bank	Bank of Lithuania
Website	www.lb.lt

The litas (ISO currency code LTL, symbolized as Lt; plural litai or litų) is the currency of Lithuania. The modern coinage of Lithuania was introduced in 1993 It is composed of coins denominated in centas (plurals centai and centų) and ''litas'' The modern banknotes of Lithuania are denominated in litas. All banknotes are of the same size (135 mm x 65 mm except for the 500 litų banknote A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is the entity responsible for the Monetary policy of a country or of a group of member states The Bank of Lithuania (Lietuvos Bankas is the Central bank of the Republic of Lithuania. ISO 4217 is the International standard describing three-letter codes (also known as the currency code) to define the names of currencies established Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the It is divided into 100 centų (genitive case; singular centas, nominative plural centai). In many national currencies, the cent is a monetary unit that equals 1/100 of the basic monetary unit The litas was first introduced in 1922 after World War I, when Lithuania declared independence and was reintroduced on June 25, 1993, following a period of currency exchange from the ruble to the litas with the temporary talonas then in place. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Events 524 - Battle of Vézeronce, the Franks defeat the Burgundians Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) The ruble or rouble (рубль see below for other Soviet languages) was the currency of the Soviet Union. The talonas (ISO 4217 code LTT was a temporary currency issued in Lithuania between 1991 and 1993. The name was modeled after the name of the country (similarly to Latvia and its lats). Latvia ( Latvija officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvijas Republika is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region. For common abbreviations see LAT (disambiguation The lats (plural lati, ISO 4217 currency code LVL or 428 is the From 1994 to 2002, the litas was pegged to the U.S. dollar at the rate of 1 to 4. A fixed exchange rate, sometimes called a pegged exchange rate, is a type of Exchange rate regime wherein a Currency 's value is matched to the value of The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Currently the litas is pegged to the euro at the rate of 3. Please update other articles as well to avoid contradiction within Wikipedia e 4528 to 1. It is expected that the litas will be replaced by the euro on January 1, 2010. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC For the film see 2010 The Year We Make Contact. For the book see 2010 Odyssey Two.

First litas, 1922-1941

History

The first litas was introduced on October 2, 1922, replacing the ostmark and ostruble, both of which had been issued by occupying German forces during World War I. Ostmark is the name given to a Currency denominated in mark which was issued by Germany in 1918 for use in the eastern areas under German control at that Ostruble is the name given to a currency denominated in kopek and ruble, which was issued by Germany in 1916 for use in the eastern areas under German occupation The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from 1871 to 1918 when it was a semi- Constitutional monarchy: beginning with the Unification The ostmark was known as the auksinas in Lithuania. The auksinas was the name of two currencies of Lithuania First Auksinas The auksinas was the currency of Lithuania in the 17th century

The litas was established at a value of 10 litas = 1US dollar and was subdivided into 100 centų. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been In the face of world wide economic depression, the litas appeared to be quite a strong and stable currency, reflecting negligible depression's influence on Lithuanian economy. One litas was covered by 0. 150462 grams of gold stored by the Bank of Lithuania in foreign countries. The Bank of Lithuania (Lietuvos Bankas is the Central bank of the Republic of Lithuania. In March 1923, the circulation amounted to 39,412,984 litai, backed by 15,738,964 in actual gold and by 24,000,000 in high exchange securities. ^[1] It was required that at least one third of the total circulation would be covered by gold and the rest by other assets. By 1938, 1 U. S. dollar was worth about 5. 9 litai,^[2] falling to about 20 U. S. cents before its disappearance in 1941. ^[3]

The litas was replaced by the Soviet ruble in April 1941 [1] after Lithuania was annexed by the Soviet Union, with 1 litas equal to 0. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 9 ruble, although the actual value of the litas was about 3-5 rubles. Such an exchange rate provided great profits for the military and party officials. Trying to protect the value of the currency, people started to massively buy which, together with a downfall in production (following nationalization), caused material shortages. Nationalization, also spelled nationalisation, is the act of taking an industry or assets into the Public ownership of a national government Withdrawals were then limited to 250 litų^[4] before the litas was completely abolished.

Interwar 10 litas coin, depicting Vytautas the Great

Coins

Coins were introduced in 1925 in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 centų, 1, 2 and 5 litai, with the litas coins in silver. Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian:; Vitaŭt; Latin: Alexander Vitoldus; Witold Ruthenian: Vitovt; c 10 litų coins were introduced in 1936. All these coins were designed by the sculptor Juozas Zikaras (1881-1944). Juozas Zikaras (1881-1944 was a Lithuanian sculptor and artist who created the design for pre-war Lithuanian litas coins The litas coins displayed Jonas Basanavičius and Vytautas the Great, which was replaced by a portrait of President Antanas Smetona. Jonas Basanavičius (( (b 23 November 1851, Ožkabaliai - d 16 February 1927, Vilnius) was an activist and proponent of Lithuania Vytautas the Great ( Lithuanian:; Vitaŭt; Latin: Alexander Vitoldus; Witold Ruthenian: Vitovt; c Antanas Smetona ( August 10 1874 January 9 1944) was one of the most important Lithuanian political figures between World

Banknotes

In 1922, the Bank of Lithuania issued notes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 centai, 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 and 100 litų. In 1924, 500 and 1000 litų notes were added. Denominations below 5 litai were replaced by coins in 1925.

Second Litas, 1993-

The litas became Lithuania's currency once more on June 25, 1993, when it replaced the temporary talonas currency at a rate of 1 litas to 100 talonas. The talonas (ISO 4217 code LTT was a temporary currency issued in Lithuania between 1991 and 1993.

History

Preparatory work

Officials started to prepare for the introduction of the litas even before independence was declared, it was thought to introduce the litas alongside the ruble even if Lithuania remained a part of the Soviet Union. ^[5] In December 1989, artists were asked to submit sketches of possible coin and banknote designs. Also, a list of famous people was compiled in order to determine who should be featured.

The Bank of Lithuania was established on March 1, 1990. Ten days later Lithuania declared independence. At first the Lithuanian government negotiated in vain with Francois Charles Oberthur, a press located in France to print the banknotes. In November 1990 The Bank of Lithuania decided to work with the United States Banknote Corporation (now American Banknote Corporation). In late fall, 1991 the first shipments of litas banknotes and coins arrived in Lithuania.

In November 1991, the Currency Issue Law was passed and the Litas Committee was created. It had the power to fix the date for the litas to come into circulation, the terms for the withdrawal from circulation of the ruble, the exchange rate of the litas and other conditions. Officials waited for a while for the economy to stabilize to not to expose the young litas to inflation. About 80% of Lithuania's trade was with Russia and the government needed to find a way to smooth the transition from the ruble zone. Also, Lithuania needed to gather funds to form a stabilization fund.

Gathering funds

At first, Lithuania did not have gold or any other securities to back up the litas. Lithuania needed to find about 200 million U. S. dollars to form the stabilization fund. First, it sought to recover its pre-war gold reserves (about 10 tons) from France, United Kingdom, Switzerland, etc. In the interwar period Lithuania stored its gold reserve in foreign banks. After the occupation in 1940 those reserves were “nobody’s”: there was no Lithuania and most western countries condemned the occupation as illegal and did not recognize the Soviet Union as a successor. The Bank of England, for example, sold the reserves to the Soviets in 1967. The Bank of England (formally the Governor and Company of the Bank of England) is a state-owned institution and the Central bank of the United Kingdom However, in January 1992 it announced that this action was a “betrayal of the people of the Baltic states” and that it would return the originally deposited amount of gold, now worth about 90 million pound sterling, to the three Baltic states. The Pound Sterling ( symbol £; ISO code: GBP) subdivided into 100 pence (singular penny) is the Currency The Baltic states (Balti riigid Baltijas valstis Baltijos valstybės or Baltic countries are three countries in Northern Europe, all members of the Lithuania received 18. 5 million pounds or 95,000 ounces of gold and remained a customer of the bank. This article is about the unit of mass For the unit of force see Pound-force. Similarly, in March 1992 Lithuania reclaimed gold from the Bank of France and later from the Bank of Sweden. The Banque de France is the Central bank of France; it is linked to the European Central Bank (ECB Sveriges Riksbank, or simply Riksbanken, is the Central bank of Sweden and the world's oldest central bank

In October 1992, the International Monetary Fund (Lithuania joined this organization on April 29, 1992) granted the first loan of 23. The International Monetary Fund ( IMF) is an International organization that oversees the Global financial system by following the Macroeconomic 05 million U. S. dollars^[6] to create the stabilization fund. However, it is estimated that at the time of the introduction of the new currency, Lithuania managed to gather only $120 million for the stabilization fund. For a brief while it was kept a secret so as not to further damage the reputation and trust in of the litas.

Delayed introduction of the litas

Lietuvos Rytas journalists investigated the production of the litas and found that for a while it was purposely held back. Lietuvos rytas (lit Lithuanian Morning) is a Lithuanian daily Newspaper, printed in Vilnius. For example, 6 million litas designated to pay for printing the banknotes stayed in a zero interest bearing account for a year in a bank in Sweden. By 1992, the litas was ready for introduction, but the banknotes were of extremely low quality (one could easily counterfeit them with a simple color printer; especially the 10, 20, and 50 litų banknotes). A counterfeit is an imitation that is made usually with the intent to deceptively represent its content or origins

Newly elected President Algirdas Brazauskas dismissed the Chair of the Bank of Lithuania, Vilius Baldišis, for incompetence just two months before the introduction of the litas. Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas ( born September 22 1932 was President of Lithuania from 1993 to 1998 and Prime Minister from 2001 to 2006 Baldišis was later charged for negligence that cost Lithuania $3,000,000. Negligence (Lat negligentia from negligere to neglect literally "not to pick up" is a legal concept in the Common law legal systems usually used to Some claim that the Russian secret services were behind the affair. The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation ( FSB) ( Russian: ФСБ Федера́льная слу́жба безопа́сности Federalnaya Baldišis’ explanation was that he was trying to cut the costs of printing the banknotes and thus did not order better security features. Also, “U. S. Banknote Corporation” was accused of violation of the contract terms.

But when the new issue of litas banknotes was redesigned, reprinted, and introduced in June 1993, it was found that the quality of the money was still too low and the banknotes would have to be redesigned further in the future. All these scandals and the small backup of gold reserve (about $120 million instead of $200 million) damaged the reputation of the litas. Thankfully, the newly appointed chair, Romualdas Visokavičius, moved things quickly and managed to win the trust of the public. Unfortunately, in October he was asked to resign mostly because of his involvement with a private bank "Litimpex. "

Introduction of the litas

Official litas and U. S. dollar exchange rate June 1993 - March 1994 according to statistics published by the Bank of Lithuania

On June 25, 1993, the litas was finally introduced at the rate of 1 litas to 100 talonas. Events 524 - Battle of Vézeronce, the Franks defeat the Burgundians Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) The talonas (ISO 4217 code LTT was a temporary currency issued in Lithuania between 1991 and 1993. 1 U. S. dollar was worth 4. 5 litai and decreased to about 4. 2 a couple of weeks later. Even the introduction of the litas was followed by a scandal. The government allowed the changing of unlimited amounts of talonas to the litas without having to show the source of the talonas. This allowed criminal groups to legalize their funds.

In July, circulation of the talonas was stopped and on August 1, 1993, the litas became the only legal tender. Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Following the reintroduction of the litas, there was an effort to weed out U. S. dollars from the market. The talonas was never really trusted by the people and the ruble was very unstable. Thus, people started using U. S. dollars as a stable currency. Another alternative was the German mark, but it was not available in larger quantities. A lot of shops printed prices in several different currencies, including dollars, and the economy was very "dollarised" as it was legal to make trades in foreign currencies.

Early litas lacked necessary protection

Due to poor banknote quality (both talonas and early litas) it was easy to counterfeit them. Most shops were forced to acquire ultra violet lamps to check for forgeries. Ultraviolet ( UV) light is Electromagnetic radiation with a Wavelength shorter than that of Visible light, but longer than X-rays One group, for example, printed 500 talonas banknotes in Turkey. It is estimated that their notes totaled 140,000 litas. ^[7]

From April 1, 1994 to February 1, 2002, the litas was pegged to the U. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Events 1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. S. dollar at the rate of 4 to 1 (the litas was stable around 3. 9 for half a year before the pegging). The main reasons for this fixation was little trust in the emerging monetary system, fear of high fluctuations in currency exchange rates, desire to attract foreigner investors, and International Monetary Fund recommendations. The International Monetary Fund ( IMF) is an International organization that oversees the Global financial system by following the Macroeconomic The peg was renewable every year. For a while it was considered to peg the litas to a basket of currencies: the European Currency Unit. The European Currency Unit ( ₠; ECU) (the word ECU pronounced either /eky/ /ɛkʊ/ or /əː'siː'uː was a basket of the currencies of the European Community At around this time Lithuania also established a currency board. A currency board is a Monetary authority which is required to maintain a Fixed exchange rate with a foreign currency

From April 1, 1994, the litas was fully backed by gold and other stable securities.

National side of future Lithuanian 2 euro

The litas and the euro

On February 2, 2002 the litas was associated with the euro at a rate of 3. Events 962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Please update other articles as well to avoid contradiction within Wikipedia e 4528 to 1 and this rate is not expected to change until the litas is replaced by the euro (on January 1, 2010 at the earliest). New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC For the film see 2010 The Year We Make Contact. For the book see 2010 Odyssey Two. The design of Lithuanian euro coins is already prepared. Lithuanian euro coins share a similar national side for all eight coins and are expected to be issued from 2010 on After the peg, Lithuania became a member of the eurozone de facto. Euro Enlargement of the Since June 28, 2004, the litas has been fixed to the ERM II [2], the EU's exchange rate mechanism. Events 1098 - Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " The European Exchange Rate Mechanism, ERM, was a system introduced by the European Community in March 1979 as part of the European Monetary System (EMS Lithuania was party to joining the mechanism since joining the EU.

Coins

Main article: Coins of the Lithuanian litas

In 1993, coins were introduced (dated 1991) in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 centų, 1, 2 and 5 litai. The modern coinage of Lithuania was introduced in 1993 It is composed of coins denominated in centas (plurals centai and centų) and ''litas'' The 1, 2 and 5 centai pieces were minted in aluminium, the 10, 20 and 50 centų in bronze and the litas coins were of cupro-nickel. In 1997, nickel-brass 10, 20 and 50 centų coins were introduced, followed by cupro-nickel 1 litas and bimetallic 2 and 5 litai in 1998. All have the obverse designs showing the Coat of Arms in the center and the name of the state "Lietuva" in capital letters. The Coat of arms of Lithuania, consisting of an armor-clad knight on horseback holding an olden Sword and Shield, is also known as

The first coins were minted in the United Kingdom and arrived in Lithuania on October 31, 1991. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Currently, all coins are minted in the state-owned enterprise "Lithuanian Mint," which started its operations in September 1992 and helped to cut the costs of introducing the litas. A government-owned corporation, state-owned enterprise or government business enterprise is a legal entity created by a Government to undertake commercial

Banknotes

Main article: Banknotes of the Lithuanian litas

In 1993, banknotes (dated 1991) were issued in denominations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 litų. The modern banknotes of Lithuania are denominated in litas. All banknotes are of the same size (135 mm x 65 mm except for the 500 litų banknote Due to poor designs, these were found to be easliy copied and a second series of notes was swiftly introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 litų, with only the 100 litų notes of the first series remaining in circulation. 200 litų notes were introduced in 1997, followed by 500 litų in 2000.

See also

• Lithuanian euro coins
• Lithuanian grammar: Noun modification by numeral — usage of forms litas, litai, litų
• Economy of Lithuania

Further research

• Documentaries directed by Rimtautas Šilinis "Iš lito istorijos. Lithuanian euro coins share a similar national side for all eight coins and are expected to be issued from 2010 on Lithuanian grammar is the study of rules governing the use of the Lithuanian language. The Lithuanian economy today is based on capitalist Free market principles and has enjoyed high growth rates in the last decade as it entered the European Union Banknotai" (From History of the Litas. Banknotes (2004)) and "Iš lito istorijos. Monetos" (From History of the Litas. Coins (2002))
• Bronė Vainauskienė, "Skandalingoji lito istorija" (Scandalous History of Litas (2003)) - collection of articles by Lietuvos Rytas journalist who spend 6 years investigating the history of the litas in the early years of independence. Lietuvos rytas (lit Lithuanian Morning) is a Lithuanian daily Newspaper, printed in Vilnius. ISBN 9986-448-12-3

References

External links

• Don's World Coin Gallery - Lithuania
• Ron Wise's World Paper Money - Lithuania ^{Mirror site}
• The Global History of Currencies - Lithuania
• Global Financial Data data series - Lithuania Lita (sic)
• Global Financial Data currency histories table ( Microsoft Excel format)
• Coins of former Soviet republics