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Matthew Patay's
Note of the Month
June 2008
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Map and flag images provided by Graphic Maps
This month's featured note
is from Latvia.
The denomination is 5 Lati and the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money
(SCWPM) Number is P-43a.
The note is dated 1992.
(front)
The banknote is green on pale tan and pale green underprint.
An oak tree is at center right.
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The following information
was obtained from:
Bank of Latvia
5 Lati Banknotes - Front
(For the full article, please refer to
the link above.)
An oak-tree and a stylized oak-leaf, which is a see-through register, are superimposed on a motif of ornamental suns. The banknote issued in 2006 and 2007 has two relief inscriptions of the nominal value 5 imprinted above the oak-leaf. Across the top of the banknote, there is the two-coloured inscription LATVIJAS BANKAS NAUDAS ZIME (money note of the Bank of Latvia), beneath which the serial number of the banknote is inscribed in red. Across the bottom of the banknote, there are the inscriptions PIECI LATI (five lats) in two-coloured print, LATVIJAS BANKA (Bank of Latvia), the facsimile signature of the Governor of the Bank of Latvia, and the serial number of the banknote in black print. On the right side of the banknote, there is a vertical ornamental band which is composed of the motif of the Lielvarde belt and topped by the numeral 5. When the banknote is tilted against the light, the inscription of the nominal value is visible on the ornamental band. In the left upper part of the banknote, there is a green relief dot (Braille) on a white background that is watermarked. Beneath the watermark, the numeral 5, consisting of the microtext "Ls 5", is superimposed on a horizontal band in a blend of colours. The horizontal band of the 5-lats banknote issued in 2001, 2006 and 2007 incorporates fine horizontal green lines. On the 2006 and 2007 banknote, the numeral 5 has been printed with a special paint creating a colour-changing optical effect when the banknote is tilted. To the left of the numeral 5, there is a vertical relief band with the numeral 5 repeated four times in different shades of colour (the 2001, 2006 and 2007 banknote).
The following information
was obtained from:
U. S. Department of State
History of Latvia
(For the full article, please refer to
the link above.)
By the 10th century, the area that is today Latvia was inhabited by several Baltic tribes who had formed their own local governments. In 1054, German sailors who shipwrecked on the Daugava River inhabited the area, which initiated a period of increasing Germanic influence. The Germans named the territory Livonia. In 1201, Riga, the current capital of Latvia, was founded by the Germanic Bishop Alberth of Livonia; the city joined the Hanseatic League in 1285 and began to form important cultural and economic relationships with the rest of Europe. However, the new German nobility enserfed the indigenous people and accorded them only limited trading and property rights.
Subsequent wars and treaties led to Livonia's partition and colonization for centuries. In 1721 Russia took control over the Latvian territories as a result of its victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War. During this time there was little sense of a Latvian national identity, as both serfdom and institutional controls to migration and social mobility limited the boundaries of the indigenous people's intellectual and social geography. However, in the 1860's, the Young Latvian Movement was formed in order to promote the indigenous language against Russification policies and to publicize and counteract the socioeconomic oppression of Latvians, 60% of whom belonged to the landless, urban class. This growing proletariat became fertile ground for the ideas of western European socialism and supported the creation in 1903 of the Latvian Social Democratic Union (LSDU), which continued to champion national interests and Latvia's national self-determination, especially during the failed 1905 Revolution in Russia.
The onset of World War I brought German occupation of the western coastal province of Kurzeme, which Latvians heroically countered with several regiments of riflemen commanded by Czarist generals. The military campaign generally increased Latvian and LSDU support for the Bolsheviks' successful October Revolution in 1917, in the hopes of a "free Latvia within free Russia." These circumstances led to the formation of the Soviet "Iskolat Republic" in the unoccupied section of Latvia. In opposition to this government and to the landed barons' German sympathies stood the Latvian Provisional National Council and the Riga Democratic Bloc. These and other political parties formed the Latvian People's Council, which on November 18, 1918 declared Latvia's independence and formed an army. The new Latvian Army won a decisive battle over the combined German-Red Army forces and consolidated that success on the eastern Latgale front. These developments led to the dissolution of the Soviet Latvian government on January 13, 1920 and to a peace treaty between Latvia and Soviet Russia on August 11 later that year. On September 22, 1921, an independent Latvia was admitted to the League of Nations.
The government, headed by Prime Minister Ulmanis, declared a democratic, parliamentary republic. It recognized Latvian as the official language, granted cultural autonomy to the country's sizeable minorities, and introduced an electoral system into the Latvian constitution, which was adopted in 1922. The ensuing decade witnessed sweeping economic reform, as the war had devastated Latvian agriculture, and most Russian factories had been evacuated to Russia. However, economic depression heightened political turmoil, and, on May 15, 1934, the Prime Minister dismissed the Parliament, banned outspoken and left-wing political parties, and tightened authoritarian state control over Latvian social life and the economy.
The German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of 1939 steadily forced Latvia under Soviet influence, culminating in Latvia's annexation by the Soviet Union on August 5, 1940. On June 14 of the following year, 15,000 Latvian citizens were forcibly deported and a large number of army officers shot. The subsequent German occupation witnessed the mobilization of many Latvians into Waffen SS legions, while some Latvians joined the Red Army and formed resistance groups, and others fled to the West and East.
An estimated 70,000, or 89.5%, of Latvian Jews were killed in Latvia under Nazi occupation. Up to one-third of Latvia's pre-war population (approximately 630,000 residents) was lost between 1940 and 1954 due to the Holocaust and the Soviet and Nazi occupations.
After World War II, the U.S.S.R. subjected the Latvian republic to a social and economic reorganization which rapidly changed the rural economy to one based on heavy industry, transformed the predominantly Latvian population into a more multiethnic populace, and converted the peasant class into a fully urbanized industrial worker class. As part of the goal to more fully integrate Latvia into the Soviet Union, Stalin deported another 42,000 Latvians and continued to promote the policy of encouraging Soviet immigration to Latvia.
In July 1989, following the dramatic events in East Germany, the Latvian Supreme Soviet adopted a "Declaration of Sovereignty" and amended the Constitution to assert the supremacy of its laws over those of the U.S.S.R. Candidates from the pro-independence party Latvian Popular Front gained a two-thirds majority in the Supreme Council in the March 1990 democratic elections. On May 4, the Council declared its intention to restore full Latvian independence after a "transitional" period; three days later, a Latvian was chosen Prime Minister. Soviet political and military forces tried unsuccessfully to overthrow the Latvian Government. On August 21, 1991, Latvia claimed de facto independence. International recognition, including that of the U.S.S.R., followed. The United States, which had never recognized Latvia's forcible annexation by the U.S.S.R. and continued to accredit a Latvian Ambassador in Washington, recognized Latvia's renewed independence on September 2. In 2007, the United States and Latvia celebrated 85 years of continuous diplomatic relations.
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(back)
An ornamental sun cut from wood is at center.
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The following information
was obtained from:
Bank of Latvia
5 Lati Reverse
(For the full article, please refer to
the link above.)
A design of an ornamental sun cut in wood is superimposed on a distaff motif. On the 5-lats banknote issued in 1992, a vertical metallic band is worked into the paper on the left of the ornamental sun (the banknote issued in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2007 incorporates a broader metallic holographic band with the lettering 'Ls 5'), and a stylized oak-leaf (a see-through register) is on the right. Across the top of the banknote, there is the inscription PIECI LATI (five lats) and the numeral 5. The numeral 5 and the two-coloured inscription LATVIJAS BANKAS NAUDAS ZIME (money note of the Bank of Latvia) are at the bottom of the banknote. A vertical band with diagonal stripes, comprising the numeral 5 and shading into one another, is on the left of the distaff motif. Along the edge of the band, there is the inscription © LATVIJAS BANKA 1992 (© Bank of Latvia 1992) on a white background. A design of the large coat of arms of the Republic of Latvia, with the year of 1992, 1996, 2001, 2006 or 2007 inscribed beneath it, is depicted on a white background in the right lower corner of the banknote. Above the coat of arms, the paper is watermarked.
Watermark
A profile of a Latvian folk-maid wearing a traditional head-dress.
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The following information
was obtained from:
Wikipedia the
online Encyclopedia
Geography of Latvia
(For the full article, please refer to
the link above.)
Located on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, Latvia lies on the East European Plain. It consists of fertile, low-lying plains, largely covered by forest, mostly pines, the highest point being the Gaiziņkalns at 311.6 m (1,020 ft). Common species of wildlife in Latvia include deer, wild boar, fox, beaver and wolves.[5] The major rivers include the Daugava, the Lielupe, the Gauja, the Venta, and the Salaca. An inlet of the Baltic Sea, the shallow Gulf of Riga is situated in the northwest of the country. Latvia's coastline extends for 531 kilometers. Its neighbors include Estonia to the north (267 kilometers of common border), Lithuania to the south (453 kilometers), Belarus to the southeast (141 kilometers), and Russia to the east (217 kilometers). Prior to World War II, Latvia bordered eastern Poland, but as a result of boundary changes by the Soviet Union, this part of Poland was attached to Belarus. Latvia ceded a part of the former Abrene District (2% of its territory) to Russia in the 2007.
Climate
The Latvian climate is humid, continental and temperate owing to the maritime influence of the Baltic Sea. Summers are warm and the weather in spring and autumn fairly mild, however, the winters can be extreme due to the northern location. Precipitation is common throughout the year with the heaviest rainfall falling in August. During severe spells of winter weather in Latvia is dominated by cold winds from the interior of Russia and severe snowfalls are common.
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For more information about Latvia visit:
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