20 Latu Frigate Gekroente Ehlendt

The *Gekroonde Elendt* — a Dutch fluyt that wrecked off the Latvian coast in 1695 — was rediscovered by divers in the 1990s, and this coin was struck to mark that find. The wreck carried a cargo of tin, copper, and lead, and its excavation produced rare documentary evidence of late 17th-century Baltic trade routes. Latvia issued this piece in the early years of rebuilding its post-Soviet numismatic infrastructure, when commemorative gold was still an unusual instrument for the newly reestablished Bank of Latvia.