Our Guests Season I (Lithuania) - Episode III (Money)

Day 2,430, 14:14 • Published in Norway Sweden • by noenting

Lithuania has recently become a part of Asgard in some sense, so it is time to continue our series on Lithuania, Luthuanian habits and their traditions. Today, it is the Lithuanian money which we will have a closer look at together with Ake S. from the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Politics.

"First off, let us start with the name of the currency, Lita" sais Ake S. "It is a strange name for a currency, you might think. But in fact it isn't. Lita is very close to the word Liter, and in fact that is the origin of the name of the Lithuanian currency. It used to be after the dissolution of the Commonwealth with Poland, when Lithuanian blackmarket found itself in a thriving boom. People traded objects and instead of cigarettes it was Vodka which was used as currency. You can already guess that government officials disliked the black market and introduced a currency unit being worth one Liter of Vodka - the Lita was born".

Today a Lita is no longer worth one liter of Vodka, due to inflation, but the name of the currency still points at its origin.
Just like any currency, with the exception of the Euro, the bills have the faces of famous persons on it.

"Ake, let us start with the 500 Litai note, who do you think it features?"

500 Litai - Sean Connery crediting Ramius

"That is pretty self-explanatory. It is Sean Connery. You might wonder why Connery features on Lithuanian money, but do you remember 'The Hunt for Ref October'? In that movie he credited Ramius, a Soviet Captain of Lithuanian origin who wants to retaliate by defecting"



"Ok, then let us continue with the 200 Litai note - any ideas about this dude here?

200 Litai Note - featuring Pierce Brosnan

"Yes sure, remember Pierce Brosnan in one of his Bond movies, when he wore that beard? That's him, no doubt!"

Pierce Brosnan


"Ok, we do have another one Ake - who is this dude?"

"Oh, that is a tough one. I think we can rule out actors in this case. However, considering the past of Lithuania, I would say, this is Karl Marx, probably in his later days, well at least, it comes pretty close"