Catalog
500 Latu
| Issuer | Latvijas Banka (Bank of Latvia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1929 |
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| In circulation to | 25 March 1941 |
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| Obverse description | Blue and brown intaglio print on multicolour guilloche underprint. A portrait of a woman in traditional Latvian national costume is positioned at right, with the denomination and bank title inscriptions framed by ornate decorative borders. The date 1929 and gold-backing clause appear in the central text panel. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | LATVIJAS BANKAS NAUDAS ZĪME PIECI SIMTI LATU PRET ŠO NAUDAS ZĪMI LATVIJAS BANKA IZSNIEDZ 29,03226 GRAMUS ZELTA. NAUDAS ZĪMES NODROŠINĀTAS TO PILNĀ NOMINALVĒRTĪBĀ 1929 (Translation: Bank of Latvia Money Mark Five Hundred Latu Money mark against this Bank of Latvia yields 29.03226 grams of gold. Stamps provided at its full face value.) |
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| Comments |
The 500 Latu was the highest denomination issued by Latvijas Banka during the interwar period, and at the time of issue Latvia's lats was one of the most stable currencies in Europe — pegged to gold and backed by reserves that the government defended with considerable discipline throughout the late 1920s. Bradbury Wilkinson, the New Malden firm responsible for printing, had by 1929 become a standard choice for newly independent states that needed internationally credible security printing and lacked domestic infrastructure to produce it.
Very few of these notes circulated in any meaningful volume. A 500 Latu note represented a substantial sum for ordinary Latvians of the period, placing it almost entirely in institutional and commercial use.