The talonas (from a Lithuanian word for "

coupon In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be redeemed for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product. Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods or by retailers, to be used in r ...

") was a temporary currency issued in Lithuania between 1991 and 1993. It replaced the Soviet rouble at par and was replaced by the litas at a rate of 100 talonai = 1 litas. The talonas was only issued as paper money.

The first talonas reform

On 5 August 1991, as a response to public complaints about

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...

, the Lithuanian government introduced the talonas, paid out as a supplement to the salaries in rubles. It was a quick and unforeseen reform pushed by the Prime Minister of Lithuania

Gediminas Vagnorius Gediminas Vagnorius (born 10 June 1957) is a Lithuanian politician and signatory of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania. He served as the Prime Minister of Lithuania, heading the government between 1991 and 1992, and again f ...

. At first, it was very similar to

ration Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

coupons: every person received 20% of his/her salary in talonas up to a maximum of 200 talonai. In order to buy goods other than food, the price had to be paid in roubles and again in talonas (for example, if a product cost 50 roubles, a person had to pay 50 roubles ''and'' 50 talonai to buy it). This system was widely criticized. First of all, in no way did it address the reasons why there were shortages of goods, i.e., it did not promote

supply Supply may refer to: *The amount of a resource that is available **Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers **Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission *Supply, as in confidenc ...

; it just limited

demand In economics, demand is the quantity of a good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices during a given time. The relationship between price and quantity demand is also called the demand curve. Demand for a specific item ...

. Also, the demand for expensive goods (like home appliances) dropped sharply because people needed a lot of time to accumulate the necessary amount of talonas to buy them. It caused bottlenecks in the supply chain and further damaged already troubled production. In addition, the scheme could not prevent

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...

of the rouble because the talonas was not an independent currency; it was a supplementary currency with a fixed exchange rate to the rouble. The system tried to encourage Lithuanians to save 80% of their salaries. But people accumulated their roubles and had nowhere to spend them. It led to the inflation of goods that did not require the talonas (like food or goods on the black market). File:0.10 талонас.jpg, 0.10 talonas File:0.20 талонас.jpg, 0.20 talonas File:0.50 талонас.jpg, 0.50 talonas File:1 литовский талон 1991.jpg, 1 talonas File:3 литовских талона 1991.jpg, 3 talonai File:5 литовских талонов 1991.jpg, 5 talonai File:10 литовских талонов 1991.jpg, 10 talonai File:25 литовских талонов 1991.jpg, 25 talonai File:50 литовских талонов 1991.jpg, 50 talonai File:100 литовских талонов 1991.jpg, 100 talonai

The second talonas reform

In the summer of 1992, everybody anticipated that the talonas would shortly be replaced by a permanent currency, the litas. Lithuania was desperately lacking cash (some workers were paid in goods rather than in cash) as

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

tightened its monetary policy. In addition, litas coins and banknotes had already been produced and shipped to Lithuania from abroad. However, on 1 May 1992, it was decided to reintroduce the talonas as an independent, temporary currency to circulate alongside the ruble in hopes to deal with inflation. A dual currency system was created. On 1 October 1992, the rouble was completely abandoned and replaced by the talonas. Lithuania was the last of the Baltic states to abandon the ruble. The self-imposed deadlines to introduce the litas were continuously postponed without clear explanations. Nicknamed "Vagnorkės" or "Vagnoriukai" after

or "zoo tickets" after various animals native to Lithuania featured on the notes, the talonas did not gain public trust or respect. The banknotes were small and printed on low quality paper. People were reluctant to use them. Nevertheless, the talonas served its purpose: inflation at the time was greater in Russia than in Lithuania. Inflation in 1992 rose steadily due to an energy price spike after Russia increased oil and gasoline prices to world levels and demanded to be paid in

hard currency In macroeconomics, hard currency, safe-haven currency, or strong currency is any globally traded currency that serves as a reliable and stable store of value. Factors contributing to a currency's ''hard'' status might include the stability and ...

. Image:Литовский 1 талонас. 1992. Аверс-реверс.jpg, 1 talonas Image:10 литовских талонов 1992.jpg, 10 talonai Image:50 литовских талонов 1992.jpg, 50 talonai Image:100 литовских талонов 1992.jpg, 100 talonai Image:200 литовских талонов 1992.jpg, 200 talonai Image:500 литовских талонов 1992.jpg, 500 talonai On June 25, 1993, the litas was introduced at the rate of 1 litas = 100 talonas. Worthless talonas were recycled into

toilet paper Toilet paper (sometimes called toilet tissue or bathroom tissue) is a tissue paper product primarily used to clean the anus and surrounding anal region of feces after defecation, and to clean the perineal area and external genitalia of ur ...

in the Grigiškės paper factory.

Banknotes

In 1991, notes were issued in denominations of 0.10-, 0.20-, 0.50-, 1-, 3-, 5-, 10-, 25-, 50-, and 100 talonas. In 1992, notes were issued for 1-, 10-, 50-, 100-, 200-, and 500 talonas, followed by new designs of the 200 and 500 talonas notes in 1993. 200 литовских талонов 1993.jpg, 200 talonas (1993) 500 литовских талонов 1993.jpg, 500 talonas (1993)

References

;Inline ;General * {{Currencies of post-Soviet states History of Lithuania (1990–present) Currencies of Lithuania Modern obsolete currencies 1991 establishments in Lithuania 1993 disestablishments in Lithuania 1990s economic history