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Bank of Latvia

Riga, 3 December 2008

Today the Bank of Latvia issues a silver collector coin Lucky Coin. The coin has been designed by Arvids Priedite and modelled by Janis Strupulis. 

It has already become a tradition for the Bank of Latvia to have a somewhat extraordinary coin struck before the oncoming Christmas and New Year. This is the season when people are wishing each other happiness and, in doing so, often resorting to our rich national folklore in search of spells and formulas for luck and fortune. Chimney-sweeps, too, are believed to bring good luck. As it is not so easy to meet a chimney-sweep on everyday basis, we can rub this coin featuring the sooty man proudly poised on the chimney-top surveying the city with a cat, that tireless roof-roamer, and a sweeping wind his only companions.  

Other remarkable coins issued by the Bank of Latvia include, among others, a button-shaped Millennium coin, Coin of Fortune - a silver coin with gold-plated obverse,  Coin of Time I and II - bimetallic (silver and niobium) coins tinted in blue or purple,  a heptagonal Coin of Digits, and Coin of Life - a silver coin with gold-plated design elements both on obverse and reverse. 

The silver Lucky Coin is legal tender in the Republic of Latvia. The maximum number of issued coins is limited to 5 000. The description of the coin is appended. The Lucky Coin will be on sale at the Bank of Latvia and such traditional points of coin sale as banks and souvenir and jewellery shops. The price of the coin at the Bank of Latvia's cashier offices is 22.50 lats.

Information for the editor
Money in form, collector coins are in fact works of art. They are usually made of gold, silver or other precious metals of especially high fineness. As opposed to currency in general circulation, collector coins are usually not intended to be used as a means of payment, but as a gift, souvenir or collector's item. Consequently, the price of collector coins is considerably higher than their nominal value.