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 The
money Museum
Contacts
Address: Totorių g. 2/8, LT-01121, Vilnius.
Tel. (+370 ~ 5) 268 03 34, 268 03 46.
Fax (+370 ~ 5) 268 03 35.
E-mail: muziejus[at]lb.lt
http://www.pinigumuziejus.lt
Head of the Museum – Vidmantas Laurinavičius.
On „Facebook“
Information for Visitor
 Opening
hours
Admission of excursions and individual visitors to the Money Museum
of the Bank of Lithuania is on weekdays: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
9.00–16.00, Friday 9.00–15.00. Admission to the exposition halls is not
later than 15 minutes before the Museum closing hour.
The Museum is closed on bank holidays designated by the laws of the Republic
of Lithuania. On the eve of bank holidays the Museum opening hours are
shortened by 1 hour.
Admission
Visiting and excursions to the Museum are free of charge. For
accounting purposes each visitor is given a souvenir ticket.
 Excursions
Excursions and educational exercise shall be ordered in advance by
telephone 268 0334, email muziejus[at]lb.lt or
filling an application at
http://www.pinigumuziejus.lt, specifying visitor age, education,
requested theme of excursion or educational programme, contact
information, etc. Duration of a survey excursion is about 1 hour.
Excursions are limited up to 30 visitors, teaching and educational
events in the Conference Hall up to 25 visitors at a time.
Collection
The Museum collection consists of exhibits related to the history of banking
and money.
Expositions
 The
Money Museum opened after reconstruction by the Bank of Lithuania in
the heart of Vilnius at the intersection of Gedimino Avenue and
Totorių Street is inviting to take a look at its five halls on two
floors occupying an area of 350 sq m. The Museum introduces visitors
to the history of world money and banking, Lithuanian money,
development of banking in our country since the emergence of the
first credit institutions to the present day.
 The
modern Money Museum not only provides visitors with a possibility to
view the valuable exhibits and get acquainted with the information
provided on the information stands, but to actively participate in
the cognitive process on an individual basis as well. By virtue of
the interactive training means observer becomes participant, as he is
able to strike a souvenir plate on his own, weigh himself on a
special scale, and find out his cost if he were of gold, platinum or
silver. The pull-out drawers activating the videowall screen which
provides financial and economic data on a selected country, the stand
which broadcasts real time information about NASDAQ/OMX Vilnius
securities trading will satisfy the needs of a most fastidious
visitor. Virtual expositions, thematic films, games, specialised
internet access – all this is available on computer terminals with
touch screens. The Museum’s multilayer exposition, which combines the
rich history of money and topical issues of today’s economic life,
offers interesting information for everyone.
The idea and content of the Museum conception are enhanced by the
designer’s idea to use the shape of the coin for the Museum
furniture, finish and other equipment solutions. The applied
up-to-date technological solutions (the stationary showcases from
glued glass are dust-proof, light emitting diodes are used for
illumination, the recuperative ventilation system maintains constant
temperature and humidity) provide adequate environment for the
exhibits and reduce energy costs. The moving stands, lifts for the
disabled enable viewing the exposition by visitors of different age
groups, also by those disabled.
The History of
Money Hall
 In
The History of Money Hall visitors are introduced to the development
of money from its primitive forms like grain, cowrie shells, furs,
amber to electronic money. The exposition is grouped by easily
memorable themes, which reflect the key stages in the history of
money. In the centre of the exposition, ancient coin hoards and
jewellery articles with coins are exhibited. The improvised mint is
devised to introduce visitors to different coinage technologies: the
primitive coinage tools come to life in the hands of the recreated
15th century coiner, and modern coin production processes are
demonstrated on the screens installed right there. In this hall there
is also installed an interactive scale which translates human body
weight into gold weight or other metal weight, and calculates the
person’s value in the currency of his choice. The artistic
installations are close to the same theme. The Googol (by Antanas
Gerlikas) installed in the floor of the hall, which bears likeliness
to a river meander, reflects permanent development of money, and a
composition by Leonas Pivoriūnas, “Architectural Exposure”, created
of the disintegrated former national currencies of the European Union
Member States, marks Europe’s transition into a new epoch.
The History of
Banking Hall
 The
hall presents the development of banking in Lithuania since the
emergence of the first credit institutions to the present day. The
exhibits displayed in the showcases, information stands and
documentary materials reveal the role of the Bank of Lithuania in
pushing through the 1922 money reform, stabilising the country’s
financial and credit market during the years of global crisis, the
fall of national banking on Lithuania’s occupation by the Soviets is
highlighted. Virtual exposition ”Money in Lithuania 1914–1945”
reveals the political, economic and financial situation in the
country during this period. Weary visitor can take a seat at the
cashier’s table, standing right here, used in the Bank during the
interwar period.
The Contemporary
Money Hall
 In
this hall visitors are presented banknotes and coins used in
different countries today. While viewing the circulation banknotes of
different countries placed in special drawers, on the videowall one
can view different information about a selected country; a lot of
attention is also devoted to the Bank of Lithuania – the central bank
of the Republic of Lithuania, among the major functions of which is
currency issue. The exhibits displayed in the showcases tell about
the production of contemporary Lithuanian money, its productions
materials, the technological solutions applied by different
producers; uncirculated specimen banknotes are displayed. Visitors
are introduced to banknote security features and can check the
banknote in hand by UV detector.
The Lithuanian
Money Hall
 Here,
one can have a view of the coins of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,
Republic of Lithuania and other territories that circulated on our
territory. The moving stands installed in the furniture enable the
visitor to individually regulate the height of viewing the cards with
coins, with an additional button to raise or pull down the lens which
also enables to examine the hardly visible tiny elements of a coin.
Stationary cases display the commemorative coins of the Republic of
Lithuania, and the 20 pull-out cases display the banknotes used in
our country from the late 18th century to the present. On the 4
computer terminals visitors can find all virtual products of the
Money Museum, view them without hindrance, use specialised internet
services, and test their knowledge acquired at the Museum by solving
tests. Having answered correctly all the questions provided the
visitor wins a prize – souvenir banknote with an image of his/her
own.
 The
Exhibition and Education Hall
This hall, which admits up to 25 persons, is for educational events
and temporary thematic expositions. It provides the speaker with the
possibility of accessing the Internet, using audio technique, the
visual display unit, DVD or other multimedia. Currently it houses an
exhibition „The Return of Lost Valuables”.
Exhibitions
An exhibition “The Return of Lost Valuables” has been opened in the
Exhibition and Conference Hall. It presents 240 silver jewellery
articles of Lithuania, Russia and other countries produced from the
late 18th century to the second half of the 20th century that the
Bank of Lithuania acquired from precious metals buying centres at the
time of the restoration of Lithuania’s independence with the aim of
using the depreciating rubles and protecting valuables from being
taken away to Moscow. The emergence of these articles in the Museum
makes an interesting history.
After restoration of Independence in Lithuania, in 1990–1992 the Bank
of Lithuania, seeking to use the depreciating rubles, bought precious
metals and their scrap, ready to be taken away to Moscow, from
jeweller’s shops and everyday service providers. 20.94 kg of gold and
197.97 kg of silver was bought for 12.61 million litas. All the
acquired articles and their scrap were packed into 86 packages,
sealed by lacquer seals and stored at the Bank of Lithuania in the
old vault (presently, the Money Museum collections are stored there).
On 22 August 1991, the State Assay Supervision Inspection of
Lithuania (later – state enterprise “Lietpraba”) was given over 6
packages for carrying out an examination of the products and sorting
them out. On 10 May 1993, the Bank of Lithuania concluded an
agreement with this agency on the examination, sorting, restoration,
packing and safe keeping of these products. “Lietpraba” specialists
picked out the articles fit for restoration and the scrap only fit
for recycling, and sorted them out by assay. A total of 3.64 kg of
gold (17% of the total amount of gold) and 23.64 kg of silver (12% of
the total amount of silver) were sorted out. The packages, handled
and sealed, lay in the enterprise up until 1997, when they were
returned to the Bank of Lithuania.
The other 80 packages were safe kept in the Bank’s vault unpacked. In
observance of the 25 February 1999 Bank of Lithuania Board Resolution
No. 26 “On articles and scrap of precious metals”, an agreement on
the sorting, assay expertise, hallmarking, weighing and evaluation of
the other valuables was signed with the Lithuanian Assay Office on 23
June 1999. The works provided for in the Agreement were accomplished
on 3 March 2000. The overall amount of the articles of gold and gold
scrap (together with the valuables sorted out in 1993) safe kept in
the Bank of Lithuania is 20.9 kg, of those of silver 198.48 kg.
A commission, set up by the 27 March 2000 ordinance No. 60 of the
Director of Cash Department of the Bank of Lithuania, took the
inventories of the valuables by article. These were mainly items for
everyday use like cutlery, candlesticks, tableware, jewellery and
coins. The Commission, jointly with Bank of Lithuania Museum
(presently – The Money Museum) staff, picked out the items of
historical and cultural value, rarer coins, and suggested the Bank’s
management to add them to the Museum collections.
By the 6 June 2002 Bank of Lithuania Board Resolution No. 77 “On the
realization of articles of precious metals and their scrap”, part of
the articles of precious metals of historical and numismatic value
acquired in 1990–1992 were transferred to the Museum of the Bank of
Lithuania. 29 gold coins (overall weight 200.6 g), 2,031 silver coins
and 387 articles of silver (overall weight 45.53 g) found their way
to the Museum stocks. 
By a Board resolution, the remaining acquisitions of articles of
precious metals and their scrap were recognised as unnecessary and
sold by way of auction. During the auctions that took
place in 2003–2005, the valuables were sold for 422.2 thousand litas.
The valuables saved from destruction and added to the Museum stocks
are exhibited in the exhibition “The Return of Lost Valuables”. The
Lithuanian articles of silver are dominated by tableware manufactured
in the late 18th century– the first half of the 20th century in the
shops of Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda masters. Most widely presented
are articles of silver by the masters of Moscow, St Petersburg and
other Russian cities of the 19th–early 20th c.c. and the production
of jewellery plants of USSR cities of the second half of the 20th
century. Also, a gold watch, which had been safe
kept in the vault at the Bank of Lithuania and recorded on the same
valuables account, is exhibited. It was given as a gift to Lithuania
by a resident of the Russian city of Kaluga, E. Nikolayev during the
economic blockade in 1990. Wishing to support the Lithuanian nation
and in protest against the policy conducted by his country, he
dedicated his father’s gold watch to the Foundation for the Freedom
of Lithuania.
Branch
Museum
Exposition of the Money
Museum in Kaunas
Address: Maironio g. 25, LT-44250, Kaunas.
Tel. (+370 ~ 37) 49 06 15.
Fax (+370 ~ 37) 22 82 06.
E-mail:
rkupraitiene[at]kaunas.lb.lt
http://www.lb.lt/lt/muziejus/renginiai_kaune.html#start
Opening hours: Wednesday and Thursday 9–12; 13–14.30.
Admission: free of charge.
Other news
The Museum was opened on 25 June 1999.
Founder – the Bank of Lithuania.
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