20 Latu

Latvia re-introduced the lats in 1993 after restoring independence, but this 2004 emission came in the closing years of the currency's second life — EU accession that same year locked in the eventual transition to the euro, which arrived on 1 January 2014. The lats was pegged to the euro at a fixed rate of 0.702804 LVL from 2005, making this note's final decade essentially a counting exercise toward obsolescence.

Giesecke & Devrient's Leipzig facility handled much of the Latvian series. The security specification here is relatively modest for the period, which is worth noting on higher-value denominations where sophisticated counterfeiting incentive exists.