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.

Other trading centers, notably Kievan Rus' and Veliky Novgorod, developed their own version of such ingots which are known as grivna or grzywna.

He measured, weighted, and classified about 400 pieces of semicircular cast ingots, but this work was limited to this one hoard.

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.

[4] Lacking minted coins, Vikings developed bullion-based trading, using hacksilver and ingots.

[6] Such items are a lot more common in Gotland, but they are also found in Poland, Germany (Schleswig-Holstein), Finland.

[7] Ribbon ingots (žiediniai lydiniai) are made of broader (1–1.2 cm (0.39–0.47 in) in width) rectangular strip of silver.

Only one example is known from Lithuania (illustration: Vaitkunskienė (1981), plate LXXVI): a rectangular strip of silver is decorated from the outside with groves and raised dots.

Because of this technique, archaeologists have not discovered any furnaces or molds, only clay spoons and pouring cups.

As of 1981, there some 800 items (about 87 kg (192 lb))[17] found in 40 different locations (22 in Lithuania, 5 in Latvia, 5 in Kaliningrad Oblast, 4 in Belarus, 2 in Russia, 1 in Ukraine, and 1 in Poland).

With the invention of metal detectors and subsequent rise of illegal archaeology, new discoveries are made almost annually, but rarely enter academic circles.

In total, there were about 530 Lithuanian longs (semicircular cast ingots), 9 Novgorod and 19 Kiev grivnas – with a combined weight of about 60 kg (130 lb).

[24] In 2004 and 2007, the Money Museum of the Bank of Lithuania acquired two halves of three-edged ingots (circumstances of their discovery are not known).

[25] Chemical analysis of three such ingots revealed that they were of very high quality (silver content between 97.4% and 98.9% with traces of gold and copper).

[24] A 2010 analysis of a half ingot kept in a local museum in Kernavė revealed silver content of 97.05–97.11%.