Latvijas Banka is issuing a "Miracle Coin"

On Wednesday, 22 December, Latvijas Banka is issuing a silver collector coin "Miracle Coin", which invites us to look at the world in the light of imagination, opening up a path to miracles and hope.

For the attention of the media and interested parties:

The coin will be available for purchase only on the website e-monetas.lv from 12.00 (noon) on 22 December. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the new numismatic products will not be available at the Cashier's Office of Latvijas Banka. For the time being, it will be possible to receive the coins purchased on the website e-monetas.lv by post only.

The message of the coin is that the difference between a miracle and everyday life lies in one's capability to perceive. An observant person would see a miracle in the smallest of things, while a flowering meadow would become a fairy tale kingdom. You just need a bit of light to crack the darkness of monotony, and this light is imagination.

The central image of the coin is a beam of light, a bright point growing wider and revealing a new world to the viewer: it emerges as a colourful motif of plants.

It is imagination that even in the darkest night lets you see the extraordinary and spot and find the light in the darkness, the miraculous in the prose of life.

The world discovered by imagination is Latvia's wonderful nature. It is a flowering meadow where we also find two of its inhabitants: the white hare (Lepus timidus) and the grey hare (Lepus europaeus). These creatures symbolise agility, wit, fertility and magical power.

The coin is like a light, a guiding lantern showing the way, a miracle you can carry in your pocket, reminding you of the power of imagination and hope.

The author of the graphic design of the "Miracle Coin" is artist Dana Jasinkeviča.

Starting from 12.00 (noon) on 22 December, the new coin will be on sale online via e-monetas.lv, Latvijas Banka's website for purchases of numismatic products. The price of the coin is 62.00 euro; the purchase limit for one buyer will be 1 coin. The mintage of the coin is 4000. The coin was struck by Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Netherlands).

The collector coin "Miracle Coin" is legal tender in the Republic of Latvia, yet the release of such coins in circulation is highly unlikely, as collector coins are in fact works of art and are in high demand among coin collectors and other interested parties.

MIRACLE COIN

Face value – 5 euro

Weight – 28.28 g;

Diameter – 38.61 mm

Metal – silver of .925 fineness

Quality – proof; colour print on the obverse and reverse; frosting with a changing degree of intensity on the proof surface of the obverse.

Graphic design: Dana Jasinkeviča

The coin was struck by Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Netherlands)

The difference between a miracle and everyday life lies in one’s capability to perceive. An observant person would see a miracle in the smallest of things, while a flowering meadow would become a fairy tale kingdom. You just need a bit of light to crack the darkness of monotony, and this light is imagination.

The Miracle Coin invites you to look at the world in the light of imagination letting it show us the way to miracles and hope. The central image of the coin is a beam of light, a bright point growing wider and revealing a new world to the viewer: it emerges as a colourful motif of plants.

It is imagination that even in the darkest night lets us see the extraordinary and spot and find the light in the darkness, the miraculous in the prose of life.

The world discovered by imagination is Latvia’s wonderful nature. It is a flowering meadow where we also find two of its inhabitants: the white hare (Lepus timidus) and the grey hare (Lepus europaeus). These creatures symbolise agility, wit, fertility and magical power.

The coin is like a light, a guiding lantern showing the way, a miracle you can carry in your pocket, reminding us of the power of imagination and hope.

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 42 euro collector coins, with over 50 Latvian artists having participated in designing them.

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 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 the employees of Latvijas Banka, outstanding Latvian experts of art and culture as well as artists and scientists.

Afthe the euro changeover, Latvijas Banka carries 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 and the Cashier's Office of Latvijas Banka, see https://www.e-monetas.lv un https://monetas.bank.lv/iegade.

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.