Catalog
50 Centų
| Issuer | Lietuvos Bankas (Bank of Lithuania) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
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| Currency | Old litas (1922-1941) |
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| Obverse description | Purple monochrome note with a fine guilloche underprint covering the entire field. The large numeral '50' appears at left center, with the denomination in Lithuanian 'PENKIOSDEŠIMTYS CENTŲ' set in bold letterpress above. The Lithuanian Coat of Arms — the Vytis, an armored knight on horseback — is inset within a shield vignette at upper right, enclosed in a plain rectangular frame. Two manuscript signatures appear below center, flanking the boxed series indicator. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | LIETUVOS BANKO BANKNOTAS 50 CENTŲ BANKNOTŲ PADIRBIMAS ĮSTATYMU BAUDŽIAMAS (Translation: Bank of Lithuania Banknote 50 Centu Banknote counterfeiting is punishable by law) |
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| Comments |
Lithuania's first independent currency series launched in 1922 under severe fiscal constraints — the litas wouldn't arrive until 1922's end, and these centu notes were stopgap instruments for a state barely two years removed from the chaos of competing occupiers and currency regimes. W. Hagelberg was a Berlin commercial lithographer rather than a specialist security printer, a choice that reflected budget realities more than preference. The resulting notes were lithographed rather than engraved, which made them comparatively easier to counterfeit.
The Pick 12 is among the lowest-denomination survivors of this inaugural issue. Small-denomination notes typically absorbed the hardest circulation, and attrition was high.