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
World currency to the United States dollar. However, as the United States has the world's largest economy, most international transactions continue to be conducted with the United States dollar, and it has remained the "de facto" world currency. According to Robert Gilpin in "Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order" (2001): "Somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of international financial transactions are denominated in dollars. For decades the dollar has also been the world's principal reserve currency; in 1996, the dollar accounted for approximately two-thirds of the world's foreign exchange reserves", as compared to about one-quarter held in euros (see Reserve