Money counterfeiting was common everywhere, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania included. It was especially prevalent during wars or economic downturns.
For example, during the rule of John II Casimir Vasa (1648-1668), money counterfeiters operated not only domestically, but also abroad. Suceava county in the Principality of Moldovia (current day Romania) had become the centre for coin counterfeiting. The large scale of money counterfeiting is evident from frequently found shilling treasures where counterfeit coins comprise a significant part of all the coins that are found. Money counterfeiters risked severe punishment.
In accordance with the Statute of Lithuania of 1588, counterfeiters of money and precious metals faced being “burnt alive without mercy”. In other parts of the world, the punishments were similar. A numismatist Eugenijus Ivanauskas provides an example of a Lithuanian Andreika who counterfeited Riga coins in Polotsk and distributed them in Reval in 1494. He was boiled alive after his arrest. Even Lithuanian noblemen were not exempt from punishment for this criminal activity. In 1580, Gregory Astikas was sentenced to death for counterfeiting money. The sentence was executed at the Town Hall Square, not far from his palace in Vokiečių Street, where he resided.
