From the treasure trove of the Money Museum. Unique sketches

The history of the Lithuanian currency — the litas — is inseparable from the contributions of particular individuals. Bankers, economists, politicians, artists — they all contributed to the return of the litas into circulation in 1993, after half a century of occupation. The help of one of them in the development of this currency was particularly valuable, since he was a person who worked in the field of money production — this was the Lithuanian-Australian Kęstutis Jonas Lynikas (1924–1997). There are not many exhibits that reflect the activities of this historical personality in the litas creation process. One of them, which can be seen at the Money Museum of the Bank of Lithuania, from far away might resemble a drawing that can often be found in a notebook. However, this sketch is much more important than it might seem at first glance. 

Lynikas was born in Lithuania in 1924. In 1942, he began his studies at Vytautas Magnus University, but he did not complete them because the Nazi occupation administration closed the university. Lynikas later emigrated to Germany, then to Australia, where he worked various jobs until he eventually graduated in chemistry and in 1961 began working in the Banknote Printing Department of the Reserve Bank of Australia. He held various positions here and got well acquainted with the money production process. Interestingly, Lynikas contributed to the emergence of plastic polymer banknotes in Australia, which have now become an Australian brand. 

Lynikas contributed to the production process of the litas, perhaps we could even say — by chance. In 1989, during a visit to Lithuania, he was invited to appear on television, where in an interview he mentioned his long-term work in the sphere of money production. After the interview, he was contacted by persons who curated currency-creation issues, and thus the Lithuanian-Australian became involved in the creation of the litas. His advice was particularly valuable for the Lithuanian authorities in their negotiations with banknote production companies. According to the artist Raimondas Miknevicius, who participated in the litas creation contest, it was with the help of Lynikas that the Lithuanian authorities were able to avoid major mistakes in negotiations with banknote production companies. 

The sketches displayed at the Money Museum of the Bank of Lithuania appeared as an attempt to help Lithuanian artists to focus on specific nuances of paper money design. Money production in the USSR was centralised, Lithuanians did not have the opportunity to contribute to it. So, in the second half of 1989, when a competition for the design of litas banknotes was announced, artists with no experience at all took part in it. The terms of the contest were also sent to Lynikas to Australia, but they reached him a little too late. Nevertheless, Lynikas did a lot. He appealed to his former colleagues at the Reserve Bank of Australia for qualified advice, but no assistance was given because of the fear of hostile reactions from the USSR. Having received a negative response, Lynikas contacted his friend, who had been developing paper money designs for many years. The fruits of his work were several drawings, which were supposed to provide at least some sort of guidance to Lithuanian artists.

Who their author was is still unknown, since Lynikas never mentioned a name in the letters sent to Lithuania. The result — proposals that were rather abstract in nature, reflecting the possible spatial arrangement of meaningful and protective banknote elements. The artist did not have much information about Lithuania; in fact, when looking at these drawings, the only clear Lithuanian accent is the name of Lithuania in English. The figures included in the rectangles were neither “Lithuanian” nor, perhaps, even “Australian” — the male and female silhouettes, the outlines of a castle (a little reminiscent of Trakai Castle) were supposed to help to better imagine a possible end product. Under one of the drawings, the artist left a brief message: “A banknote design should reflect a countries (sic) cultural or philosophical ideas, as well as securities.” By the way, there was no room for security features in these sketches — since polymer banknotes began to circulate in Australia at the time, the artist thought that Lithuania could issue similar money. 

In a letter dated 31 May 1990, written to Bronius Povilaitis, Chair of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, Lynikas stated that his friend would be able to submit fully prepared banknote projects for free, for the benefit of the young state. However, the banknotes were eventually made on the basis of the work of Lithuanian artists, but the Australian sketches remained valuable witnesses to the complex history of the litas. 

  

Pilot sketches of Lithuanian money prepared by LBPM GEK 7635 by the artist of the Central Bank of Australia. 31.3×15.3 cm. Paper, sketch, drawing. Unknown artist, 1990, Australia.