Bank of Lithuania

- The exhibition New Exposition of the Museum of the Bank of Lithuania in Kaunas was opened on 18 December 2007
- The exhibition "Money in Painting" was opened on 8 December 2005
- The exhibition "Euro Coins Genesis" was opened on 17 November 2005
- The exhibition "The Making of the Euro arranged by the Bank of Lithuania and the European Central Bank" was opened on 29 September 2004
- The exhibition "Banks in Lithuania. The late 19th – first half of the 20th century. Projects. Photographs. Postcards" was opened on 23 December 2003
- The exhibition "Money in Photographs" opened on 2 October 2002
- The exhibition "Securities in Lithuania. Shares and Bonds. 1872-1940" opened on 28 December 2001
- The exhibition "Money in Caricatures" opened on 21 December 2000
- The exhibition "Currency of Restored Lithuania" opened on 1 March 2000
- The exhibition "Money in Small Graphics" opened on 23 December 1999
- The exhibition "Euro and the Currencies of the European Union Countries" opened on 23 December 1998
- The exhibition "Litas: Tradition and Present" opened on 27 February 1998

The Bank of Lithuania invites you to visit the exhibition The Making of the Euro arranged by the Bank of Lithuania and the European Central Bank. The exhibition is open at the Kaunas Branch of the Bank of Lithuania (25 Maironio St, Kaunas) from 29 September until 5 November, 2004, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m on Saturdays. Admittance is free.
Inquiries by phone (8-37) 49 06 00.

Opening of the exhibition: opening speech by Mr Antti Heinonen, Director, Directorate Banknotes of the ECB (on the right).

About the Exhibition

1 January 2002 saw the implementation of one of the most ambitious European projects - the biggest cash changeover. Euro banknotes and coins replaced the national currencies in twelve European countries and became a single currency for more than 300 million citizens.

It took many years of careful work by many countries and various institutions before the new banknotes and coins could find their way into the people's wallets, cash dispensers and shops.

The European Central Bank commissioned the photographer Claudio Hills to document the process of the changeover to the new European currency, from the design, production and transportation of the banknotes and coins to the withdrawal and destruction of old banknotes and coins. The photographs by Claudio Hills depict not only the technical but also the human aspect of the making of the euro.

The exhibition THE MAKING OF THE EURO has been on display in the euro area countries and the countries that are preparing for the adoption of the euro, and is now presented in Lithuania, which intends to adopt the euro at the end of 2006 or in early 2007. The exhibition represents one of the steps by the Bank of Lithuania and the European Central Bank aimed at informing the public about the process of the making of the euro, providing with as much information as possible about single European currency and creating the conditions for an adequate preparation to adopt the euro in Lithuania.

	July 2001: Quality control of a printing plate at Oesterreichische Banknoten- und Sicherheitsdruck GmbH in Vienna.		November 2001: Watching the end of the Irish pound at the Central Bank of Ireland Currency centre in Dublin.
	December 2001: Hologram foil patches, one of the security features incorporated into the euro banknotes, at the Banque de France printing works in Chamalieres.		September 2001: The Bank of Greece stores euro banknotes and coins in a historical place.
	December 2001: Cleaning a printing plate at the Banque de France printing works in hamalieres.		November 2001: Destruction of national coins at a Deutsche Bundesbank branch near Frankfurt.
	1 January 2002: The Banque centrale du Luxembourg welcoming E-day.		1 January 2002: Young people examining their first euro banknotes withdrawn from ATM in Maastricht shortly after midnight.
	September 2001: Checking of banknote sheets at the Bank of Greece printing works in Athens.		November 2001: Minting of euro coins at the Mint of Portugal in Lisbon.
	September 2001: Finnish family watching a TV spot advertising the euro in Helsinki.		November 2001: Out of circulation - Irish banknotes earmarked for destruction at the central bank of Ireland Currency centre in Dublin.