Latvia · Baltic States joint issue: 100 years of independence

Issue date31 Jan 2018

Total mintage512,000

EU maximum512,000

Editions3

Edge letteringDIEVS ★ SVĒTĪ ★ LATVIJU

InscriptionLATVIJA / 2018

DesignerJustas Petrulis

mintUAB Lietuvos monetų kalykla, Vilnius (Lithuania)

Issue occasion

The commemorative coin honours the 100th anniversary of the founding of Estonia and Latvia and the re-establishment of Lithuania. The common motif depicts the three Baltic states as an intertwined braid, thereby referring to their shared past, present and future. It is complemented by a stylised numeral for the 100th anniversary, the heraldic symbols of all three states and the inscription “LATVIJA”.

The design

The three Baltic member states are symbolically depicted as a single braid. They are connected by their history: a shared past, present and future. A stylized numeral for the 100th anniversary and the heraldic symbols of all three member states are also depicted. The name of the issuing state, “LATVIJA”, appears on the left, and the year of issue, “2018”, on the right. The coin design was selected following a public vote in all three Baltic countries.

The twelve stars of the European flag are depicted on the coin’s outer ring.

Background on the topic

The three anniversaries date back to the collapse of the Russian Empire and the political upheavals at the end of the First World War. During the war, the Baltic territories were partly under German occupation. Following the revolutions in Russia, opportunities emerged to establish independent state structures, which initially had to be secured through military and diplomatic means.

In Lithuania, the Council of Lithuania adopted the Declaration of Independence on 16 February 1918. The designation as a re-establishment refers to the fact that Lithuania had already possessed its own state tradition before the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at the end of the 18th century. Estonia declared its independence on 24 February 1918. In Latvia, the Latvian People's Council proclaimed the republic on 18 November 1918. In all three countries, armed conflicts with Soviet Russian troops and other military formations followed. Only thereafter were the new republics able to consolidate themselves.

Their first period of independence ended in 1940 with their occupation and incorporation into the Soviet Union. This was followed by the German occupation during the Second World War and then by renewed Soviet rule. The Baltic states did not regard their incorporation into the Soviet Union as voluntary accession. During the period of glasnost and perestroika, broad independence movements developed. A common form of protest was the “Baltic Way” of 1989, a human chain through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. State independence was restored in 1990 and 1991, respectively.

The joint coin issue therefore commemorates not only three state acts that took place close together in time in 1918, but also parallel experiences of foreign rule, independence movements and renewed state sovereignty. Since 2004, all three countries have been members of the European Union and NATO. The coin design was determined in a cross-border competition and subsequently selected through a public vote in all three states. In this way, alongside its historical character, the joint project also acquired an explicitly cross-border character.