By Bank of Latvia….
On Tuesday, September 8, Bank of Latvia (Latvijas Banka) issued a new five-euro silver collector coin, Rainis and Aspazija. This coin celebrates the 150th anniversary of Rainis and Aspazija, two brilliant minds of Latvia. It is a unique coin due to its specific form and minting technique. The graphic design of the coin has been created by Arta Ozola-Jaunarāja, and Ligita Franckeviča (View Designer’s Profile) is the creator of the plaster model. The coin has been struck by the Lithuanian Mint (UAB Lietuvos monetų kalykla).
The coin is made of two detachable parts, one of which features Rainis while the other bears an image of Aspazija adorned with red flowers, a visualisation of her most popular collection of verse. The reverse of the coin shows lines of poetry, which Rainis and Aspazija dedicated to each other.
The coin, a small-form artwork, tells the story of two prominent people who shared the love of life despite being different in their views, poetic approaches and artistic expressions. The technique of minting a coin consisting of two detachable parts is rarely used in coin art but this time it serves as the most accurate means of delivering the message. The first such coin was issued by the Bank of Latvia to mark the 150th anniversary of Riga Technical University.
The collector coin Rainis and Aspazija is legal tender in the Republic of Latvia (yet hardly to be found in circulation, as collector coins in general are miniature works of art, highly admired and demanded by the numismatic community and other interested parties). Its maximum mintage is limited to 7,000 coins.
As of September 8, the coin is on sale at the Bank of Latvia Cashier’s Offices (K. Valdemāra iela 1B in Riga and Teātra iela 3 in Liepāja) and such traditional points of sale as banks and souvenir and jewellery shops (https://monetas.bank.lv/images/stories/pielikumi/nauda/Monetu-tirdzniecibas-vietas-170815.pdf).
The price of the coin at the Bank of Latvia Cashier’s Offices is 59 euro.
The list of coins on sale at Bank of Latvia Cashier’s Offices is available at https://monetas.bank.lv/iegade. A vast range of thematically and artistically diverse collector coins are still available, among them several collector coins denominated in lats, four of the silver euro collector coins issued in 2014, and also the euro collector coins dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Latvian Firefighting and 500 years of the Riga Castle issued in 2015.
