A memorial site dedicated to the first mint on the territory of Belarus, operated in 1665–1666.

Through the Brest mint a monetary reform of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Jan Casimir Vaza was implemented. The mint in Brest began its work on December 4, 1665, and operated till December 16, 1666. The work of the mint was managed by a mintmaster named Tito Livio Burattini, who was invited from Italy. The Brest mint produced copper Lithuanian szelągs, or baratynks.

The szelągs minted in Brest had high value and low weight. In addition, the emission of baratynks was almost 10 times higher than planned, resulting in the collapse of the financial system of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. That situation was the result of the search for easy and simple solutions to complex economic problems.

Publication date: 11.07.2019.

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