Like the Lietuvos Bankas, the Bank of Lithuania, whose 2014 issues we covered a couple of days ago, the Latvijas Banka (Bank of Latvia) has also managed to acquire a considerable portfolio of award nominations for its relatively small release schedule. In 2014 they were nominated three times for the Krause Coin of the Year Awards (COTY), and for 2015 they picked up four nominations, winning the Best Silver Coin award for the really beautiful Wagner coin.
Coins issued by the Bank of Latvia are not struck within the countries borders and they farm out the work to other European mints. The bulk of their output is struck in the Netherlands by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt, with a single 2014 numismatic struck by AgAuNEWS favourite, the Mint of Poland. Latvia transitioned to the Euro in January 2014, so the coins below represent Latvia’s first year of Euro releases, and with a style similar to that of the Lithuania, perhaps a harbinger of what that country may release in 2015 now that it too is a Euro economy.
Latvia’s 2014 output has also garnered some healthy attention, with both the Ainazi Nautical School, and the White Book coins doing pretty well, especially the former coin that’s seen some good appreciation this year. The Baltic Way coin is a sister release to the one issued by Lithuania and is another fine design. Most of the coins have some nice edge inscriptions and the image at the bottom of the post shows them quite well.
We’ve used the Latvian descriptions of the coins as they’re quite comprehensive and well done, (click the blue cross to expand and read in full). We’ll continue our walk through the 2014 releases of Eastern European Mints next week.
AINAZI NAUTICAL SCHOOL
In the beginning there were words. The call of Krišjānis Valdemārs (1825–1891), an ideologist of the so-called New Latvians, who was one of the key figures in the national awakening movement, found poetic expression in the verses of Auseklis (Miķelis Krogzemis; 1850–1879): “Go to sea, Latvians ..” That was a call for Latvians to overcome their backwardness and isolation and take up a respectable place in the world’s economy, to get to know the cultural treasures of the human race and integrate with Western civilisation. That could be accomplished by active economic operation and cooperation. The fact that the Latvian lands lay by a bustling sea seemed to be a clear sign of the budding nation’s potential.
REVERSE: The central field features a compass, with an element painted red and pointing to the North. There are semi-circled inscriptions AINAŽU at the top and JŪRSKOLA at the bottom, and the years 1864 and 2014 on the left and right respectively.
OBVERSE: The number 5, with the inscription EURO beneath it, is placed in the centre. Four sailing ships are symmetrically arranged along the outer ring of the obverse.
DESIGNER: Ivars Drulle
EDGE: The inscriptions LATVIJAS BANKA and LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA, separated by rhombic dots.
MINT: Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Netherlands)
FACE VALUE | METAL | WEIGHT | DIAMETER | QUALITY | MINTAGE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 EURO | 0.925 Ag | 22.00 g | 35.00 mm | PROOF | 5,000 |
THE WHITE BOOK
Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš (1877–1962) was a famous Latvian author and painter. His life and work were imbued with bright light and clear vision. Having come from the countryside, Jaunsudrabiņš was well familiar with the life on the traditional Latvian farm and its intimate connection to the cycles of nature. As many Latvians he, too, had to experience personally the dramatic shifts and collisions of the 20th century. During World War I, Jaunsudrabiņš shared the fate of many refugees in Northern Caucasus; then he experienced peace and relative prosperity of newly independent Latvia and familiarised himself with Western culture. At the end of World War II, Jaunsudrabiņš was once again a refugee – this time in Germany where he settled in Kerbeck, living there until his death in 1962. In 1997, Jaunsudrabiņš was reburied in Latvia, near his Nereta birthplace.
REVERSE: features an image of the book’s cover with the title Baltā grāmata (The White Book) in Gothic lettering and the year 1914. The square background bears an image of a small boy and the Sun shining on him, an illustration from the book. Facsimile signature of Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš is placed at the bottom.
OBVERSE: features an image of the cover of Jaunsudrabiņš’ White Book adorned with floating clouds. The inscription LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA is running down from the top along its right side, and the year 2014 is placed slantwise on the left. The square background features contours of a birch-tree-enclosed homestead, an illustration from the book. The inscription “5 euro” is placed at the bottom right.
EDGE: Plain.
DESIGNER: Sandra Krastiņa
MINT: Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Netherlands)
FACE VALUE | METAL | WEIGHT | DIAMETER | QUALITY | MINTAGE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 EURO | 0.925 Ag | 25.80 g | POLYGONAL | PROOF | 5,000 |
BALTIC WAY
The idea of freedom is one for which people have always been willing to pay the highest price. In Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania the yearning for freedom found a powerful expression at the end of the 1980s. The Baltic peoples were united by a common goal: to shake off the shackles of the Soviet totalitarian empire, which had meant subjugation of half a century and which had originated in the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. This mutual non-aggression pact signed on 23 August 1939 by the USSR and Germany was supplemented by a secret protocol, which in fact meant the division of six independent European states into spheres of influence and occupation.
REVERSE: displays a vertical image of a tree trunk with exposed roots. There are two semi-circled inscriptions – ATMOSTAS BALTIJA (Awakening Baltics) on the left and LIETUVA LATVIJA EESTI (Lithuania Latvia Estonia) on the right.
OBVERSE: The obverse is crossed by a braid with ribbons in the colours of national flags of the three Baltic Republics woven in it. The inscription “5 euro” is on the right. The lower left part of the obverse bears the semi-circled inscription BALTIJAS CEĻŠ 1989, with the year 2014 on the right.
EDGE: The edge features two inscriptions LATVIJAS BANKA and LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA, separated by rhombic dots.
DESIGNER: Visvaldis Asaris (graphic design), Ligita Franckeviča (plaster model)
MINT: Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Netherlands)
FACE VALUE | METAL | WEIGHT | DIAMETER | QUALITY | MINTAGE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 EURO | 0.925 Ag | 22.00 g | 35.00 mm | PROOF | 10,000 |
OLD STENDERS
The UNESCO events calendar for 2014 includes, among others, the 300th anniversary of the Latvian writer, linguist and thinker Gotthard Friedrich Stender (1714–1796), thus celebrating his fundamental contribution in the area of culture, education and science, including inter-cultural dialogue.
G. F. Stender (nicknamed Vecais Stenders, Old Stenders) is an outstanding representative of the 18th century Enlightenment. He was a German born in the pastoral estate of Laši (now Eglaine), Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. He studied philosophy and theology at Universities of Jena and Halle and served both as a pastor and as an inventor (he made globes for the royal court of Denmark; provided a method for determining the geographical longitude at sea, and even constructed a primitive washing machine). In 1765, he returned to his native land and spent the last thirty years of his life to enlighten and educate the Latvian serfs.
REVERSE: The reverse of the coin features the progressive idea of the world, the heliocentric concept of the universe. The image comprises the inscriptions “G. F. Stender” and “Latwis”. Above it, there are semi-circled inscriptions VECAIS STENDERS on the left and “5 euro” slightly on the right.
OBVERSE: A theme from the title page of the first edition of the “Book of High Wisdom on the World and Nature” (1774) by Gotthard Friedrich Stender (1714–1796) is a central motif: a pastor is showing a boy how full of wonders this world is. At the top on the left, there are semi-circled inscriptions 2014 and LATVIJA.
EDGE: The inscriptions LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA and LATVIJAS BANKA, separated by rhombic dots.
DESIGNER: Aigars Ozoliņš (graphic design), Jānis Strupulis (plaster model)
MINT: Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Netherlands)
FACE VALUE | METAL | WEIGHT | DIAMETER | QUALITY | MINTAGE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 EURO | 0.925 Ag | 22.00 g | 35.00 mm | PROOF | 10,000 |
COIN OF THE SEASONS
Existence manifests itself through change. It pulsates in endless rhythmic variation: heartbeat, dancing, hammer striking an anvil, marching soldiers, ticking clocks and everyday rushing around. In nature, as well, rhythm and cyclical passage are the crucial elements. Night replaces day, dawn blooms into a bright sun, which in turn fades into sunset. The moon waxes and wanes and waxes again to full moon. Gusts of wind bring clouds and snow and rain but we are certain to have scorching heat one day and long for refreshing rain.
The Earth, our vast and only home, is full of rhythms that organise and sometimes interfere with people’s lives. The place where Latvians are destined to live has been called God’s land, our Green Land and Land of Laima. Everything seems to be well proportioned here: there are times of bitter cold and times of blazing heat, there are pouring rains and serene mists that veil our fields and woods, cities and lakes, villages and farms. To use a fashionable expression, we live in the comfort zone.
REVERSE: The inner part of the reverse shows a potato with straws stuck into it, a traditional interior decoration of ancient Latvians. It is surrounded by the images representing the Latvian seasonal traditions: Father Christmas, a girl swinging at Easter, a Midsummer celebrant, and mummers who roamed farmsteads from Martinmas to Shrovetide. The names of ancient seasonal celebrations are circled along the outer ring of the reverse: CHRISTMAS, SHROVETIDE, EASTER, ŪSIŅI, JĀŅI, MĀRAS (the days of Ūsiņš, Jānis, Māra and Miķelis), and MARTINMAS. Going up to the right of the centre, there is the slantwise inscription LATVIJA, and the year 2014 is placed on the right hand side.
OBVERSE: The inner part of the obverse features the Sun surrounded by the images of four farm labourers, each depicted in an activity typical for one of the four seasons: a woodcutter (winter), a sowing man (spring), a crop harvester (summer), and a thresher (autumn). The ancient names of season-concluding months are circled along the outer ring of the obverse: the Candle Month, the Leaf Month, the Rye Month and the Frost Month. The inscription 5 EURO is placed to the right of the centre.
EDGE: There are the inscriptions LATVIJAS BANKA and LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA, separated by rhombic dots.
DESIGNER: Arvīds Priedīte (graphic design), Ligita Franckeviča (plaster model)
MINT: Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Netherlands)
FACE VALUE | METAL | WEIGHT | DIAMETER | QUALITY | MINTAGE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 EURO | 0.925 Ag | 22.00 g | 35.00 mm | PROOF | 10,000 |
BAROQUE OF COURLAND
The end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century was a time of flourishing architecture and decorative art in Courland. Estate owners competed amongst themselves for the largest and most lavish church on their property. These desires were satisfied by the woodworking workshop of Ventspils (then Windau), which had been established to be part of Duke Jacob’s great shipbuilding plans. Woodcarver Nicolaus Söffrens Sr. (?–1694) made the retable and pulpit of St. Catherine’s Church in Kuldīga (Goldingen) (1660–1663), and his son Nicolaus Söffrens Jr. (1662–1710) became the most outstanding master of the Courland Baroque. The Baroque era has left a particularly rich legacy in Latvia. The 17th and 18th century churches in Courland are among the greatest treasures created in Latvia in the period of historical styles. The contemporary demand promoted the immigration of foreign artists and craftsmen and thus also flourishing of the arts.
The city of Liepāja (Libau) managed to successfully match the luxury needs of the landed gentry of Courland. In 1697, the largest Baroque altar in Latvia was built in St. Anna’s Church whose retable has been included in the Latvian Cultural Canon as one of its visual art treasures.
REVERSE: The angel from the altar of the Lestene Church is the central motif. The semi-circled inscriptions KURZEMES BAROKS (Baroque of Courland; on the left) and NIKOLAUSS SĒFRENSS (Nicolaus Söffrens; on the right) encompass the design in the lower part of the reverse.
OBVERSE: The obverse features an acanthus leaf design from the altar of the Lestene Church. The semi-circled inscription of the year 2014 occupies the upper part of the obverse on the left from the design, the inscription 5 EURO is in the centre, and the semi-circled inscription LATVIJA (Latvia) is placed in the lower part of the obverse.
EDGE: Two inscriptions LATVIJAS BANKA, separated by dots.
DESIGNER: Laimonis Šēnbergs (graphic design), Ligita Franckeviča (plaster model)
MINT: Mennica Polska S.A. (Poland)
FACE VALUE | METAL | WEIGHT | DIAMETER | QUALITY | MINTAGE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
5 EURO | 0.925 Ag | 22.00 g | 35.00 mm | PROOF | 10,000 |
It has been great year for Latvian 5 euros silver commemorative coins in 2014. So what 5 euros silver commemorative coins are planned for Latvian in 2015?
We should know soon as Latvia pre-announces its year ahead. We know they have a bimetallic ‘Presidency of the EU’ coin coiming but not if that will be available in precious metal also.
Last time Latvian coin ever won the “Coin of the Year award” was in 2011 for 2010 Amber centared silver coin.