5 Centai

Lithuania's first independent currency series, the litas, was introduced in 1922 to replace the German ostmark and the short-lived talonas, both of which had been badly inflated. The Reichsdruckerei contract was a practical choice — the Berlin state printer had the capacity and speed Lithuania's new central bank needed — but commissioning a German firm to print the currency of a nation that had only recently shed German military occupation carried its own quiet irony.

The 5 centai is the lowest denomination of the series. At that level, notes rarely survived extended use, and circulated examples typically show significant wear.