500 Latu

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.