Litas

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Litas
Country: LithuaniaLithuania Lithuania
Subdivision: 100 centsų
ISO 4217 code : LTL
Abbreviation: Lt
Exchange rate :
(August 24, 2020)

1  EUR  = 3.4528 LTL (fixed)

1  EUR  = 3.4528 LTL
1 LTL = 0.28962 EUR

1  CHF  = 3.2086 LTL
1 LTL = 0.31166 CHF

The litas was the currency of Lithuania until December 31, 2014 . It was replaced by the euro on January 1, 2015 .

In Lithuanian his name is:

1 litas / centas ( nom. Sg. )
2 (to 9) litai / centai (nom. Pl. )
10 (20, 30 etc.) litų / centų ( Gen. Pl.)

history

First Republic (1922 to 1941)

In June 1922 the young Republic of Lithuania introduced its own national currency , the Lithuanian litas. It replaced the Deutsche Ostmark that the Germans had introduced during the First World War . The introductory rate for the new Lithuanian currency was 10 litas = 1 US dollar . At that time, a good third of the money in circulation was covered by gold. These gold reserves were deposited by the Lithuanian State Bank abroad (England, France, Sweden, Switzerland). It developed into a very strong currency and was quoted at just under 6 litas for 1 US dollar in 1938. When Lithuania was annexed to the Soviet Union in June 1940, the litas was replaced in April 1941 by the ruble of the Soviet Union, with a rate of 1 litas = 0.9 ruble, which was extremely advantageous for the Soviet Union.

The gold reserves abroad remained untouched. However, in 1967 the Bank of England sold the gold it had stored to the Soviet Union. They have been returned / transferred to the Republic of Lithuania from 1992 onwards.

Second Republic (1993 to 2014)

Even before the declaration of independence on March 11, 1990, the Lithuanian State Bank was re-established in February 1990, and the introduction of a national currency was one of the most urgent goals of the young republic. After many problems and scandals about the necessary security of the currency and the protection against forgery of the banknotes , the litas replaced the transitional currency Talonas on June 23, 1993 , which had replaced the Russian ruble for a year . The exchange rate was 100 talonas = 1 litas and 4.5 litas = 1 US dollar. After the exchange rate leveled off at around 4 litas = 1 US dollar, the litas was pegged to the US dollar on April 1, 1994 at a rate of 4: 1. The aim was to strengthen confidence in the currency and displace the US dollar from the economy. From August 1, 1993 to December 31, 2014, the litas was the only legal (cash) payment method in Lithuania.

The first set of coins (Centas and Litas) was minted in 1991, but only issued in 1993. Three values ​​that were issued in copper in 1991 were later minted in brass. Only the smallest values ​​(1 centas, 2 and 5 centai) appeared in aluminum and only with the year 1991. The lightest, the 1 centas coin (like others: with a rider and a raised sword on the reverse, designed by Petras Garška) Made of 99% aluminum, has a diameter of 18.75 mm and weighs 0.83 g; thus has almost identical data as the Austrian 2 groschen coin.

Litas and Euros

The declared goal of Lithuanian politics was the admission of the country to the euro zone . In the run-up to EU accession on May 1, 2004, the peg of the litas was changed from the US dollar to the euro on February 2, 2002 at the current exchange rate of 1 euro = 3.4528 litas. On June 28, 2004, the country joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) as a precondition for the planned accession to the euro. However, the hoped-for quickest possible introduction of the euro after two years of membership in ERM II on January 1, 2007 failed because of one of the three criteria for membership , inflation: After the litas had continuously shown inflation rates of less than 2% since the ruble crisis in 1999, inflation reached a level due to the booming Economy in the reference period (March 2005 to April 2006) 2.66%. That was 0.06 percentage points more than the arithmetic mean of the three lowest inflation euro member states required in the Maastricht Treaty plus 1.5 percentage points (2.6%). On May 16, 2006, the European Commission recommended that Lithuania not join the euro area on January 1, 2007. The final negative decision was made by the Council of Ministers of Finance of the EU at its meeting on July 11, 2006. In practice, it was a) politically about keeping a small country isolated from the other euro countries outside, b) the emerging ones Waiting for changes in price developments. Indeed, inflation has increased year on year since then and was around 11% in 2009.

In 2014 the Lithuanian government applied to join the euro on January 1, 2015. On June 4, 2014, the European Commission and the ECB gave the go-ahead. The European Parliament had previously given its approval. On June 19, 2014 the finance ministers of the Eurogroup approved Lithuania joining the euro on January 1, 2015. On June 27, 2014, the heads of state and government of the European Union (EU) gave their approval. The European Parliament , adopted on 16 June 2014 according to which the development of euro introduction is recommended. The General Affairs Council had the final say. The (approving) decision was made on July 23, 2014.

Coins

Course coins

Circulation coins come in denominations of 1 litas, 2 and 5 litai as well as 1 centas, 2, 5 centai, 10, 20 and 50 cents.

Fronts
Backs

  • 2 centai

  • 5 centai

  • 20 centsų

  • 50 centsų

  • 1 litas

  • 2 litai

  • 5 litai

Commemorative coins

The following commemorative coins are also available from the 1 litas coin :

Bills

50 litai from 2003

There were 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 Litų banknotes. The 100- and 500-Lit notes have been around since 2000, the 200-Litų notes since 1997. 1-Litas, 2 or 5-Litai notes are rarely found. The notes and coins are no longer valid means of payment and can only be exchanged at the Bank of Lithuania. The size of the notes is 6.5 × 13.5 cm for all values.

The notes represent the following Lithuanian personalities:

1 litas: Žemaitė (aka Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė), Lithuanian folk poet (1845–1921), on the back the wooden church in Paluše (Aukštaitija) from the 18th century
2 Litai: Bishop Motiejus Valančius , an advocate of Lithuanian identity (1801–1875); on the back the Trakai moated castle
5 Litai: Jonas Jablonskis , Lithuanian linguist, founder of the Lithuanian written language (1860–1930), a letterpress machine on the back
10 Litų: Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas , two Lithuanian aviation pioneers (1896 and 1894–1933 in the case of a plane crash), on the back of their Lituanica plane
20 Litų: Maironis (aka Jonas Mačiulis), prelate and poet (1862–1942), on the reverse the War Museum in Kaunas
50 Litų: Jonas Basanavičius , scientist and politician, signer of the 1918 Declaration of Independence (1851–1927), on the reverse the cathedral and the bell tower in Vilnius
100 Litų (since 2000): Simonas Daukantas , historian and fighter for the independence of Lithuania (1793–1864), on the reverse the Vilnius University
200 Litu (since 1997): Vydūnas (aka Wilhelm Storost), teacher, folklorist, poet and philosopher (1868–1953), on the back of the Klaipėda lighthouse
500 Litų (since 2000): Vincas Kudirka , poet, fighter for independence and author of the text of the Lithuanian national anthem (1858–1899), on the back the Lithuanian Liberty Bell (Kudirkas was editor of the magazine Die Glocke ) in front of an idealized Lithuanian landscape

See also

Web links

Commons : Litas  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://colnect.com/de/coins/list/country/2069-Litauen/distribution/1-Umlaufmünze/mint/37-JSC_-_Lithuanian_Mint_Wilnius_Litauen Colnect coin catalog, 2014, accessed November 15, 2014
  2. ↑ [1] (PDF; 933 KiB)
  3. ^ Frank Stockner: Green light for the admission of Lithuania in the euro zone . In: Die Welt , June 4, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
  4. ↑ Luxemburger Wort: Lithuania is allowed to import the euro . Retrieved June 20, 2014.