5 lats coin Bank of Latvia has issued two collector coins featuring the imagery of the 5 lats coin. The first was struck in 2003 as part of the international series "The Smallest Gold Coins of the World". The second was struck in 2012 to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the bank. The Bank of Latvia worked with the British Royal Mint, which minted the original coins, to recreate the coin using electrotypes used in minting the original coins. In 2004, after a nationwide idea contest, the design was selected for the national side of Latvian Euro coins, and approved as a design
European Currency Unit European Currency Unit The European Currency Unit (₠ or ECU, ) was a basket of the currencies of the European Community member states, used as the unit of account of the European Community before being replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999, at parity. The ECU itself replaced the European Unit of Account, also at parity, on 13 March 1979. The European Exchange Rate Mechanism attempted to minimize fluctuations between member state currencies and the ECU. The ECU was also used in some international financial transactions, where its advantage was that securities denominated in ECUs provided investors with the