New additions week 46 - 2015
One new banknote this week with a big thank you to my traveling aunt who visited Lithuania recently: 10 Litu, P68.
From Wikipedia: "The reverse of the 10 litu banknote featured Lithuanian heroes, Steponas Darius and Stasys Girenas. In 1933 they flew from New York over the Atlantic Ocean with a small plane called Lituanica. However, the plane mysteriously crashed in Germany (now Poland). The duo did not survive.
The obverse depicts Lituanica flying over the Atlantic Ocean with visible shores of the North America and Europe. This banknote was noticed by the international press covering the introduction of the litas. Journalists made a metaphor that the litas should do better than the pilots, i.e. the litas, hopefully, would not crash. The most recent release clearly shows Darius wearing the cap with an insignia from the Palwaukee Municipal Airport located in Wheeling, Illinois. It attracted some attention from topic collectors.
The banknote was designed and redesigned by Giedrius Jonaitis. The very first draft of new Lithuanian currency had Darius and Girenas on the 5 litai banknote. It was released in different designs four times (in 1993 (twice), 1997, and 2001). The first banknote design started an international scandal. In 1992, these banknotes were printed and ready to be released to the public. However, it was discovered that they were virtually unprotected. It delayed the introduction of the litas as the banknotes had to be reprinted. The banknotes bearing the date "1991" were released for a very short time and were quickly replaced by the 1993 issue. The major design ideas have not changed throughout the issues."
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