3 Talonas 'Coupon'

Lithuania's talonas ("coupon") system was introduced in May 1991 as a rationing mechanism alongside the Soviet ruble, not as a replacement for it. Residents needed both — rubles to pay and talonai to authorize the purchase of rationed goods. The arrangement was always intended as transitional, and by October 1992 the talonas had become the sole circulating currency, a role it held until the litas was restored in 1993.

Spindulys, a Kaunas printing house founded in 1928, produced the series entirely domestically — no small feat given the supply constraints of the period. The watermark is present but rudimentary, reflecting what Lithuanian industry could deliver quickly under pressure.