5 lats coin and freedom. The coin was designed by Rihards Zariņš. The image of the maiden on the coin is colloquially known as Milda (a Latvian female name). The model was Zelma Brauere (1900-1977), a proofreader of the State Securities Printing House. She served as a model for other works of the artist, including the 10 lats and 20 lats banknotes and the 50 santīmi coin. In 1939, the Latvian government prepared to mint new 5 lats coins to be issued in 1941. The Latvian maiden was to be replaced by a portrait of the authoritarian leader of Latvia, Kārlis Ulmanis. Those
Latvian lats and 50 santīmu were nickel, while coins of 1 lats and above were in silver, with a purity of 83,5 percent. The Latvian Bank issued notes from 1922 in denominations of 20, 25, 50, 100 and 500 latu. They also issued 10 latu notes which were 500 rubli notes overprinted with the new denomination. The government issued currency notes from 1925 in denominations of 5, 10 and 20 latu. The lats was reintroduced on 5 March 1993, replacing the Latvian rublis, which continued to circulate and kept validity until and including 30 June 1994 at a rate of 200 rubļu