Latvijas Banka dedicates a coin to Liepāja on its 400th anniversary

On Tuesday, 17 June, Latvijas Banka is issuing a silver collector coin "Sun and Wind". From the small Līva fishing village, Liepāja has grown into the third largest city in Latvia and is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, artist Krišs Salmanis has created a coin that combines the city's contrasts, symbolically reflecting them in the images of the Sun and the Wind. In their balance, the soul of the city is formed. 

On the coin release day, 17 June, everyone is invited to visit the Liepāja Museum, where the city administration and representatives of Latvijas Banka will present the new coin. The artist will talk about the creation of the coin, and it will be on display on a special stand. The event will take place at Kūrmājas prospekts 16/18, Liepāja, at 17.00. 

In the coin dedicated to Liepāja, the artist has depicted elements of the largest city in Kurzeme. Buildings line up on the obverse: from the cramped cabin of a fishing boat to the wide rooftops of the 17th century, through elegant Art Nouveau streets, past striking modern buildings and proud industrial relics. Finally, the gaze ascends the church towers' spires, reaching Liepāja's vast sky where the Wind sets the tone. Like an eternal street musician, it plays the weather vanes and whispers through people's souls. 

On the reverse of the coin, soaking it all in, is the Sun – the main listener of the Wind's ballads. It only takes a short walk to go from the city's heart to the spacious beach. There, the centuries melt together like sand in your sandals and strands of hair drift over the water's surface, weaving with the glow of the afternoon sun. 

The artist addresses several issues in the coin. So where does Liepāja's strength lie? In its paradoxes? Or in the layers of its history? Can one side of a coin exist without the other? Here, opposites do not clash – they live in harmony. And in the tension between them, Liepāja carves out its own, unmistakable character. 

Ligita Franckeviča is the author of the coin's plaster model. 

The silver collector coin will be available for purchase on the website e-monetas.lv/en from 12:00 (noon) on 17 June. The price of the coin  is 82.00 euro; the purchase limit for one buyer will be 3 coins. The mintage of the coin is 3000. The coin was struck by Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Netherlands).

SUN AND WIND

Technical data

Face value: 5 euro
Weight: 23.00 g
Diameter: 36.00 mm
Metal: silver of .999 fineness with gilded elements

Quality: proof
Maximum mintage: 3000
Struck in 2025 by Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Netherlands)

Artists

Graphic design: Krišs Salmanis

Plaster model: Ligita Franckeviča

Obverse

The obverse of the coin is designed using varying intensities of frosting and gilding. It depicts the wild rocker Wind, rampaging above the rooftops of the city. The background unfolds iconic elements of Liepāja: the harbourside, a fishing boat, the concert hall "Lielais Dzintars", the Oskars Kalpaks Bridge spanning the Karosta Canal, the spires of churches, and the city's buildings. On the left side, the inscription "5 euro" is placed in a semicircle; on the right, the inscription "LIEPĀJA 400" is arranged in two lines.

Reverse

The reverse of the coin is designed using varying intensities of frosting and gilding. It shows the Sun – a woman lazily bathing in the sea, her hair rippling through the water like shimmering sunbeams. The year "2025" is positioned at the upper left, the inscription "LATVIJA" is arranged in a semicircular arc along the lower left edge.

Edge

The inscriptions "LATVIJAS BANKA" and "LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA", separated by rhombic dots.

Activity of Latvijas Banka regarding the issuance of collector coins and 2 euro commemorative coins 

Since 1993, Latvijas Banka has issued 98 lats collector coins and 60 euro collector coins. Overall, more than 50 artists from Latvia and now also 1 artist from Ukraine have participated in designing Latvian coins.

Latvian coins have received high international recognition and a number of prestigious awards; moreover, the "Coin of Latvia" won the international 2010 Coin of the Year Award at the contest organised by US numismatics publishing house Krause Publications and its magazine World Coin News. In 2015, the silver collector coin "The Baltic Way" was recognised as the Best Contemporary Event Coin at this contest, whereas in 2018, the collector coin "National Entrepreneur" was named the Most Artistic Coin of the Year. At the competition Coin of the Year Awards (COTY) in 2020, the "Honey Coin", Latvijas Banka's collector coin, was announced the world's Most Artistic Coin and the Coin of the Year.

The Coin Design Commission of Latvijas Banka (the former Commission for the Thematic Concept of the Banknotes and Coins), which has been active since 12 November 1993, plays an important role in the coin issuing process. The Commission consists of employees of Latvijas Banka, outstanding experts in Latvian art and culture as well as artists and scientists. 

After the euro changeover, Latvijas Banka has carried on the tradition of issuing collector coin series with motifs characteristic of Latvia and executed in high artistic quality. These coins are legal tender only in the issuing country. They are unlikely to come into general circulation, for, by nature, they are works of art enjoying high demand from the numismatic community and other interested parties. 

The face value of collector coins must differ from that of coins in general circulation (it must be, e.g. 5 euro or 10 euro). Their specifications, including colour, diameter, weight, material, etc. have to be cardinally distinctive from those of the coins in general circulation. 

For information on the collector coins on sale at e-monetas.lv/en and the Cashier's Office of Latvijas Banka, see https://www.e-monetas.lv/en and https://monetas.bank.lv/en/coins-for-sale. 

The issuance of 2 euro commemorative coins (2 euro circulation coins of special design) is another area of coin art. Each year, every euro area country is entitled to issue two 2 euro commemorative coins (similar to 1 lats special circulation coins previously issued in Latvia), featuring events of national, European, or global significance. The euro area countries can additionally produce a third 2 euro commemorative coin, provided that it is issued jointly and that it commemorates events of European Union-wide importance. 

Commemorative coins bear the same features and the same common or European side as the normal 2 euro circulation coins, while their national sides differ and feature a national commemorating motif. 

Euro commemorative coins are legal tender throughout the euro area. This means they can be used – and must be accepted – just like any other euro coin.