From 23 March to 4 April 2020, Latvijas Banka, in cooperation with the news portal Delfi, organizes a public vote for Latvia’s Coin of the Year 2019, and everyone is invited to express their opinion as to which of the collector coins minted in 2019 is the most appealing one in terms of the artistic solution, which of them is emotionally moving, original or depicts the most interesting subject. This is an opportunity to find out online what cultural values are minted on Latvia’s coins.
Four collector coins dedicated to Latvian culture, history and people were issued in 2019:
“Cat’s Mill” invites you to remember and to read once again our favorite literary fairy tales, including the ones written by Kārlis Skalbe.
“Niklāvs Strunke”, a silver coin of an unusual shape, invites us to dive into the art world and find out more about the life story and the art of Niklāvs Strunke.
The coin “Gifts of the Forest”, created by two different artists, tells the story about our traditions and the natural wealth, whereas the patriotic coin “Freedom Fights (1918–1920)” brings along a historic message for those who are interested in the history of Latvia.
The vote will conclude with a draw where registered participants will have a chance to win one out of a pool of 12 collector coins, all issued in 2019.
The results of the vote will be announced on 14 April 2020 and published on Latvijas Banka’s website bank.lv, as well as on Delfi.lv and rus.Delfi.lv.
In addition to the public vote, the expert commission of the Latvian National Museum of Art will decide on the best coin in terms of the artistic solution in 2019. Another special award will be presented by Tilde Company and the Culture Information Systems Centre.
Since 1993, Latvijas Banka has issued 98 lats collector coins and 35 euro collector coins, with over 50 Latvian artists having participated in designing them. You can browse through them here.
Latvian coins have earned high international recognition and a number of prestigious awards; most recently, the “Honey Coin”, based on Artūrs Analts’ work won the international 2020 Coin of the Year Award at the contest organised by US Krause Publications and its magazine World Coin News. Read the CoinsWeeksly-report here.
Since 2004, when Latvijas Banka organized the first public vote, the following coins have been named Latvia’s Coin of the Year: “Coin of Time”, “Baron Münchhausen”, “Coin of Digits”, “Coin of Time II”, “Lucky Coin”, “Coin of Water”, “Amber Coin”, “Fog mists the pane”, “5-lats silver collector coin”, “Baby Coin”, “Baroque of Courland”, “Fairy Tale Coin I. Five cats”, “Fairy Tale Coin II. Hedgehog’s Coat” and “Honey Coin”.
The vote is happing at the website of news portal Delfi (site not available in English).
