Latvian lats

The 5 lati coin, used before World War II, became a popular symbol of independence during the Soviet era. The coin was designed by Rihards Zariņš.

20 latu banknote issued 1935 (obverse).

The lats was first introduced on 3 August 1922, replacing the Latvian rublis at a rate of 1 lats = 50 rubļi.[4] The lats was pegged against the gold standard from its introduction till 1940.[5]

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 rouble was about three times lower and 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.[6]

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 1000 lats. A part of the Latvian gold, silver and currency reserves were sent to Moscow at the start of the occupation.[7][8]

The lats was reintroduced on 5 March 1993,[10] replacing the Latvian rublis, which continued to circulate and kept validity until and including 30 June 1994[11] at a rate of 200 rubļu being equivalent to 1 lats. The 5 lats banknote was introduced at first, and the last banknote to be introduced was the 500 lats banknote on 20 July 1998.[12] The lats was replaced on 1 January 2014 by the Euro, at the rate of 0.702804 Lats to 1 Euro. The second lats can be exchanged to euros at the official rate at the Bank of Latvia's cashier's office in Riga.[13]

Until the end of its circulation in January 2014, lats was the fourth highest-valued currency unit per face value, after the Kuwaiti dinar, Bahraini dinar, and the Omani rial. The 500 latu note was the world's third most valuable banknote after the $10,000 Singaporean dollar note and the 1,000 Swiss franc note.[14]

Coins

Coins were issued in denominations of 1 santīms, 2 and 5 santīmi, 10, 20 and 50 santīmu, 1 lats and 2 lati. 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 2, 10 and 100 latu (the later two of which were, respectively, silver and gold), a 100 lats gold bullion coin, and a series of limited design 1 lats coins twice a year from 2004 to 2013, and once in 2001 and 2003.

The initial standard 2 lati coin was issued only once in 1992, and was unimetallic of copper-nickel, weighed 6g and measured 24.35mm in diameter.[15] It was gradually replaced in circulation from 1999 with the below bimetallic coin due to counterfeiting issues.[16]

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 santīms	€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 santīmi	€0.028	copper-clad iron	17.00 mm	1.90 g	Smooth	1992, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2009
	5 santīmi	€0.071	copper / nickel / zinc alloy	18.50 mm	2.50 g	Smooth	1992, 2006, 2007, 2009
	10 santīmu	€0.142	copper / nickel / zinc alloy	19.90 mm	3.25 g	Smooth	1992, 2008
	20 santīmu	€0.285	copper / nickel / zinc alloy	21.50 mm	4.00 g	Smooth	1992, 2007, 2009
	50 santīmu	€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.
	1 lats	€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.
	2 lati	€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

Banknotes

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.[17]

Current Series
Image		Value	Value in euros (€)	Main Colour	Description
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		5 lati	€7.11	Green	Oak tree	Woodcarving – sun on a distaff
		10 latu	€14.23	Purple	River Daugava	Sakta (Latvian brooch)
		20 latu	€28.46	Brown	Traditional house	Woven linen
		50 latu	€71.14	Blue	Sailing-ship	Keys (Historical seal of Riga)
		100 latu	€142.29	Red	Krišjānis Barons	Belt of Lielvārde (Lielvārdes josta)
		500 latu	€711.44	Grey	Latvian folk-maid	Ornamental brass 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)