Latvian lats

 

 

The first lats (symbol: ℒ︁𝓈) was first introduced on 3 August 1922, replacing the first Latvian ruble at a rate of ℒ︁𝓈 1 = Rbls 50.^[7] The lats was pegged against the gold standard from its introduction until 28 September 1936, when it was pegged against the British pound sterling at a rate of 1 £ = 25,22 ℒ︁𝓈.^[8][9] However, as the pound still retained the standard, a link of sorts existed until 1940.^[10]

On 17 June 1940, Latvia was occupied by the USSR. After the dismantling of the Bank of Latvia and its replacement with the Latvia Republican Office of the Gosbank on 10 October, the Soviet ruble was introduced alongside the lats on 25 November 1940 at par, although the real monetary value of the ruble was about a third of the lats. Thus both wages and prices were gradually raised to devalue the lats from June to November 1940. To lessen the effect of the exodus of goods sent by Soviet occupational personnel to the USSR, taking advantage of the new exchange rate, buyer limits for various goods were introduced.^[11]

Although the Soviet authorities initially pledged not to abolish the lats, it was taken out of circulation without prior warning at 13:05 on 25 March 1941, simultaneously nationalising all deposits larger than ℒ︁𝓈 1000. A part of the Latvian gold, silver and currency reserves were sent to Moscow at the start of the occupation.^[12][13]

Coins were issued in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 santīmu, ℒ︁𝓈 1, ℒ︁𝓈 2 and ℒ︁𝓈 5. The 1s, 2s and 5s were in bronze (Cu, Sn, Zn), the 10s, 20s and 50s were nickel, while coins of ℒ︁𝓈 1 and above were struck in silver, with a purity of 83,5 percent.^[14]

The Latvian Bank issued notes from 1922 in denominations of ℒ︁𝓈 20, ℒ︁𝓈 25, ℒ︁𝓈 50, ℒ︁𝓈 100 and ℒ︁𝓈 500. They also issued ℒ︁𝓈 10 notes which were 500 ruble notes overprinted with the new denomination. The government issued currency notes from 1925 in denominations of ℒ︁𝓈 5, ℒ︁𝓈 10 and ℒ︁𝓈 20.

 

The lats was reintroduced on 5 March 1993,^[15] replacing the Latvian ruble, which continued to circulate and kept validity until and including 30 June 1994^[16] at a rate of LR 200 being equivalent to Ls 1. The Ls 5 banknote was introduced first, and the last banknote to be introduced was the Ls 500 banknote on 20 July 1998.^[17] The lats was replaced on 1 January 2014 by the euro, at the rate of Ls 0.702804 to €1. The second lats can be exchanged to euros at the official rate at the Bank of Latvia's cashier's office in Riga.^[18]

Until the end of its circulation in January 2014, the lats was the fourth highest-valued currency unit per face value, after the Kuwaiti dinar, Bahraini dinar, and the Omani rial. The Ls 500 note was the world's third most valuable banknote after the $10,000 Brunei/Singaporean dollar note and the 1,000 Swiss franc note.^[19] With the abolition of the Maltese lira on 1 January 2008, the lats became the most valued European currency.

Coins were issued in denominations of 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, 20s and 50s, Ls 1 and Ls 2. Besides standard coins in the list below and coins for collectors, the following coins were also issued: three commemorative circulation coins were issued in denominations of Ls 2, Ls 10 and Ls 100 (the latter two of which were, respectively, silver and gold), a Ls 100 gold bullion coin, and a series of limited design Ls1 coins twice a year from 2004 to 2013, and once in 2001 and 2003.

The initial standard Ls 2 coin was issued only once in 1992, it was a copper-nickel coin of 6g and measured 24.35mm in diameter.^[20] It was gradually replaced in circulation from 1999 with the below bimetallic coin due to counterfeiting issues.^[21]

The standard coins were designed by Gunārs Lūsis and Jānis Strupulis.

Current standard series
Image	Value	Value in euros (€)	Composition	Diameter	Weight	Edge	Issued	Description
	1 s	€0.014	copper-clad iron	15.65 mm	1.60 g	Smooth	1992, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008	Obverse: The small coat of arms of Latvia, inscription LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA and the date of issue. Reverse: denomination, ethnographic sun ornaments joined by five arches symbolizing a day of work.
	2 s	€0.028	copper-clad iron	17.00 mm	1.90 g		1992, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2009
	5 s	€0.071	copper / nickel / zinc alloy	18.50 mm	2.50 g	Smooth	1992, 2006, 2007, 2009	Obverse: The small coat of arms of Latvia, inscription LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA and the date of issue. Reverse: denomination, ethnographic sun ornaments joined by five arches symbolizing a day of work.
	10 s	€0.142	copper / nickel / zinc alloy	19.90 mm	3.25 g		1992, 2008
	20 s	€0.285	copper / nickel / zinc alloy	21.50 mm	4.00 g		1992, 2007, 2009
	50 s	€0.711	copper / nickel alloy	18.80 mm	3.50 g	Reeded	1992, 2007, 2009	Obverse: The small coat of arms of Latvia, inscription LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA and the date of issue. Reverse: pine sapling, which symbolizes Latvian forests and the denomination, separated by a horizontal line. Edge: reeded.
	Ls 1	€1.423	copper / nickel alloy	21.75 mm	4.80 g	Plain and lettering: LATVIJAS BANKA ♦ LATVIJAS BANKA ♦	1992, 2007, 2008	Obverse: The large coat of arms of Latvia, inscription LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA and the date of issue. Reverse: leaping salmon, which symbolizes the waters of Latvia, and denomination.
	Ls 2	€2.846	Inner: copper / nickel / zinc alloy Outer: copper / nickel alloy	26.30 mm (inner: 18.21 mm)	9.50 g (inner: 4.50 g, ring: 5.00 g)	Reeded and lettering: LATVIJAS BANKA ♦ LATVIJAS BANKA ♦	1999, 2003, 2009	Obverse: The large coat of arms of Latvia, and on the ring inscription LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA and the date of issue. Reverse: A cow, which symbolizes the Latvian countryside, and denomination.
Relative size of coins

All banknotes are 130 × 65 mm in size. They were printed by Giesecke & Devrient GmbH in Germany and were designed by Imants Žodžiks and Valdis Ošiņš.^[22]

Current Series
Image		Value	Value in euros (€)	Main Colour	Description
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		Ls 5	€7.11	Green	Oak tree, sun ornament background	Woodcarving of a sun on a distaff
		Ls 10	€14.23	Purple	Bends of the River Daugava (Daugavas loki)	Latvian brooch (sakta)
		Ls 20	€28.46	Brown	Traditional homestead	Woven linen (dreļļu pattern)
		Ls 50	€71.14	Blue	Sailing-ship	Keys (Historical seal of Riga), Riga fortifications map
		Ls 100	€142.29	Red	Krišjānis Barons	Lielvārde Belt (Lielvārdes josta)
		Ls 500	€711.44	Grey	Latvian folk-maid[note 1]	Ornamental bronze crowns

• Bank of Latvia
• Latvian euro coins
• Commemorative coins of Latvia
• Economy of Latvia

• Central bank of Latvia
• Coins of Latvia at CISCoins.net
• The pre-euro banknotes of Latvia (in English and German)
• Video: The story of Latvia's "lats" currency. 11 March 2020. Public Broadcasting of Latvia.