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3 Kopecks Latvia; Libava; Libau
| Issuer | City of Libava (Liepāja) Municipal Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 1915 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Либавское Городское Самоуправление РАЗМЕННЫЙ ЗНАКЪ 3 Коп. ПОДДЪЛКА КАРАЕТСЯ ПО УГОЛОВНЫМЪ ЗАКОНАМЪ. 3 Сор. (Translation: Libava City Government. Exchange currency. 3. Kop Forgery is punished under criminal law.) |
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| Reverse lettering | Либавское Городское Самоуправление РАЗМЕННЫЙ ЗНАКЪ 3 Коп. ПОДДЪЛКА КАРАЕТСЯ ПО УГОЛОВНЫМЪ ЗАКОНАМЪ. 3 Сор. (Translation: Libava City Government. Exchange currency. 3. Kop Forgery is punished under criminal law.) |
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| Comments |
Libava — the Imperial Russian name for what is now Liepāja — issued these municipal fractional notes in 1915 as German forces pushed into Courland and the normal flow of coinage collapsed entirely. Small-denomination copper had vanished from circulation almost immediately after war broke out in 1914, hoarded or melted, and by mid-1915 municipal governments across the Baltic were printing their own stopgaps. Libava's situation was particularly acute: the city changed hands, falling under German occupation in May 1915, which makes the precise window of this note's legitimate circulation extremely narrow.
The trilingual text — Russian, German, and Latvian — reflects the city's mixed population before occupation froze that civic reality in place.