Latvian lats Latvian lats The lats (plural: "lati" (2–9) "latu" (10 and more)), ISO 4217 currency code: LVL or 428) was the currency of Latvia from 1922 until it was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2014. A two-week transition period during which the lats was in circulation alongside the euro ended on 14 January 2014. It is abbreviated as "Ls" and was subdivided into 100 "santīmi" (singular: "santīms"; from French "centime"). The lats was first introduced on 3 August 1922, replacing the Latvian rublis at a rate of 1 lats = 50 rubļi. The lats was pegged against the gold
Currency mostly paper, but Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation developed the world's first polymer currency in the 1980s that went into circulation on the nation's bicentenary in 1988. Now used in some 22 countries (over 40 if counting commemorative issues), polymer currency dramatically improves the life span of banknotes and prevents counterfeiting. Currency use is based on the concept of lex monetae; that a sovereign state decides which currency it shall use. Currently, the International Organization for Standardization has introduced a three-letter system of codes (ISO 4217) to define currency (as opposed to simple names or currency signs), in