This is not a particularly hard to get or valuable coin ($10-15) but it seemed to catch my eye every time I went into the coin store so today I bit.Normally I don't collect a lot of 20th century foreign silver but I think this is really beautiful. 5 Lat Piece,Republic of Latvia,Description: * Obverse Latvian Maiden, possibly Zelma Brauere, facing right, by Rihards Zarinš, the inscription:- LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA * Reverse The Latvian coat of arms, above the date, and the value:- PIECI 5 LATI * Edge DEIUS SUETI LATVIJU (incuse)
that is a nice looking coin, good grab!! I also collect foreign silver, but more so the exotic designs (panda) then anythign else.
You do realise I hope that these coins a worth a heck of a lot more than $10 -$15 in that condition . Then again, maybe i'm out of touch. I got my ones just as the `wall' was crumbling but there still was a soviet empire. My ones didn't come cheap and there weren't many around at the time. Bummer! I should have waited. Ah well, not one of the shrewdest investments i've ever made but still, I love these coins. You have to go for the date run now.......... ;-) Ian
Ian, Here you go,they even have a U.K. order form.There are only 3 dates to get. http://www.24carat.co.uk/latvia.html $15-18 US
Thanks, but I got my set well over a decade ago...and I paid a far heftier price than you did. As I said, not the shrewdest investment I ever made (by all appearances). Ian
I owned one of these, at one time you could buy them from Mezhnumizmatika in Moskva. They are the nicest of the Baltic states coinages. I think now I need another one
Nice. I have been looking on Molotok.ru and fleAbaY for these lately and not found so nice. They really are attractive coins and they seemed to have survived in large numbers even in Soviet Union.
silvrluvr...it's .6712 % silver but i don't know what the rest is,probably copper or nickel,or both. Krasnaya,the link I provided looks like good prices.Why not try there?
Usually the second metal in a silver coin is copper. The Maiden may come back, by the way. From the Latvian central bank's euro pages at http://www.bank.lv/eng/main/lvnaud/latnaud/index.php?37226: "Three motifs prevailed at the idea competition - the Monument of Freedom, a Latvian maiden featured on Latvia's 5 lats coin prior to World War II, and the coat of arms of the Republic of Latvia." That would not be a silver coin though. Christian
I cannot say after looking through their entire site that I cared too much for it, for I couldn't find many images of their coins and banknotes.
Well the coin is a nice `robust' yet rustic design....and silver so at these prices you can't go wrong. They sit well as a trio too
