Lithuanian long currency

The so-called Lithuanian long currency was a type of money used by the Baltic tribes and in the early Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 12th–15th centuries. It was commodity money in the form of silver ingots. Most often they were semicircular rods about 13 cm (5.1 in) in length and weighted between 100 and 110 g (3.5 and 3.9 oz). Other trading centers, notably Kievan Rus' and Veliky Novgorod, developed their own version of such ingots which are known as grivna or grzywna. The ingots were replaced by minted coins in the middle of the 15th century.

The currency was mentioned already by Tadeusz Czacki (1800) and Simonas Daukantas (1845). In 1932, Povilas Karmaza published an extensive study on a hoard found in Ribiškės. He measured, weighted, and classified about 400 pieces of semicircular cast ingots, but this work was limited to this one hoard. G. Federov (1949) was the first to attempt to create a classification system and topography of the findings to date. This work was still confused and incomplete. In 1981, Zenonas Duksa published a comprehensive study on coins and ingots that circulated before the advent of local coin minting. Though many discoveries were made since then, it remains the standard reference work on the subject.

The currency is known by a great variety of terms and there is no clear consensus among researchers which of them is most appropriate:

A silver-based economy developed in the 9th century. Lacking minted coins, Vikings developed bullion-based trading, using hacksilver and ingots. The earliest silver ingots that were used as currency were forged (kaltiniai lydiniai). They circulated from the 10th to the early 12th centuries and are very rare in Lithuania. As of 1981, forged ingots were found only seven times within the territory of Lithuania. Archaeologist Duksa identified three sub-types: spiral bracelet, ribbon ingot, and band ingot.

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