10 Latu

Designed and engraved entirely in-house by Kārlis Krauze at the Riga state press, this note was produced without contracting any of the major Western security printers — an uncommon arrangement for interwar Europe, where most smaller nations relied on Bradbury Wilkinson, De La Rue, or similar firms. The Valsts papīru spiestuve had been building genuine intaglio capability since the early 1920s, and the 10 Latu series was among the more technically demanding work it produced.

The signature progression tells the political story. Valdmanis replaced Ekis as Finance Minister mid-run in 1939, and Kaminskis appears only on 1940 issues — printed under Soviet occupation after the June annexation, though still bearing the Latvian State Treasury's name. Notes from that final 1940 tranche circulated only briefly before the lats was abolished in favor of the Soviet ruble in November 1940.