The collector coin "Cabbage" issued by Latvijas Banka in 2024 was announced the winner in the category the Best Silver Coin at the competition Coin of the Year organised by Krause Publications, the US numismatics publishing house, and its magazine World Coin News.
The coin "Cabbage" was previously also named Latvia's Coin of the Year 2024 in the annual public survey. It was created by artist and sculptor Mārtiņš Rozenfelds who submitted his design proposal to the open design competition organised by Latvijas Banka at the end of 2023.
This year, two coins issued by Latvijas Banka in 2024 made it to the finals of the competition Coin of the Year, securing a place among the top ten coins across various categories. The "Energy Coin" ranked among the top ten coins in the category the Most Artistic Coin.
Altogether, around 550 coins were entered into the competition, and 100 of them from 38 countries advanced to the finals.
This award is the equivalent of the Oscars in the film industry, and Latvian coins have also excelled at this competition before. The "Coin of Latvia" become the Coin of the Year in 2010. In 2015, the silver collector coin "Baltic Way" was the winner in the Best Contemporary Event category; in 2018, the collector coin "National Entrepreneur" was announced the Most Artistic Coin, while in 2020, the "Honey Coin" was named the world's Most Artistic Coin and the Coin of the Year.
Since 1993, Latvijas Banka has issued 98 lats collector coins and 61 euro collector coins Overall, more than 50 artists from Latvia and 1 artist from Ukraine have participated in designing Latvian coins.
The Coin Design Commission of Latvijas Banka (the former Commission for the Thematic Concept of the Banknotes and Coins), operational since 12 November 1993, plays an important role in the coin issuing process. The Commission consists of employees of Latvijas Banka, outstanding experts in Latvian art and culture as well as artists and scientists.