1 Lats Riga Cathedral

Latvia's commemorative lats series drew consistent international attention in the early 2000s, and the Bank of Latvia had by 2011 developed one of the more sophisticated small-nation coin programs in Europe — issuing pieces through authorized distributors worldwide rather than relying on domestic circulation. Riga Cathedral, founded in 1211 by Bishop Albert of Riga, is the largest medieval church in the Baltic states and served as the seat of the Livonian Order's ecclesiastical authority during the German crusading campaigns that shaped the region's entire early medieval trajectory.

Latvia re-adopted the lats in 1993 after independence, replacing the transitional Latvian ruble. The country switched to the euro in 2014, making 2011 one of the final years of lats-denominated commemorative production.