The exhibition “ Euro and Currencies
of the European Union Countries”
It cost the Europeans two world wars to
start looking for new forms to unite Europe countries.
Trying to avoid mistakes made after the First World War,
democratic Europe governments investigated ways to unite
and their selection ended with a decision of a political,
economic and financial integration. This integration was
implemented by different forms and underwent several stages
of its gradual enlargement. In 1951 the Treaty establishing
the European Coal and Steel Community was signed in Paris.
The Treaties of Rome concluded in 1957 established the
European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy
Community. The Single European Act of 1986 and the Maastricht
Treaty of 1992 unified the European countries even tighter
than typical treaties of sovereign states. The enforcement
of the Maastricht Treaty on 1 November 1993 provided the
European Union (EU) a constitutional background and its
member states took an irreversible path leading to an
economic and currency union.
On 1 January 1999 a single currency unit
Euro was introduced in eleven states of the EU that participated
in the third stage of the Economic and Monetary Union
(Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Luxemburg, Holland,
Portugal, France, Finland and Germany). Three years Euro
was used in non-cash settlements. From 1 January 2002,
already twelve EU states (one more state - Greece- joined
the EU in 2001) put into circulation cash Euro banknotes
and coins.
The exhibition “ Euro and Currencies of
the European Countries” organized by the Bank of Lithuania
Museum and opened on the eve of the Euro, was devoted
to national currencies and the new monetary unit Euro
of the Euro zone countries and their 300 million people
residing in them. Specimens of seven denomination banknotes
and eight coin denominations were displayed in the exhibition.
The exhibition demonstrated national currency
banknotes and coins of eleven countries belonging to the
Economic and Monetary Union: Irish pound and pence, Austrian
schilling and grosh, Belgian franc and centime, Spanish
peseta and centimo, Italian lire, Luxembourg franc, Netherlands
guilder and cent, Portuguese escudo, French franc and
centime, Finnish markka and pennia, German mark and pfennig.
National banknotes and coins of four EU countries ( Greece
drahma, pound sterling and pence of Great Britain, Danish
and Swedish krone and ore) that have not yet joined the
Economic and Monetary Union, were demonstrated apart from
the rest.
A lot of exhibition place was devoted to
publications on the EU countries national currencies,
banknote and coin specifications, security features. Exhibited
souvenirs of national banks served as their advertisements.
The exhibition was arranged from exhibits
kept at the Bank of Lithuania Museum and the Currency
Examination Division of the Cash Department, as well as
from exhibits of private collections of the Bank of Lithuania
members of the staff.
