Catalog
500 Rubļi
| Issuer | Latvijas Valsts Kase (Latvian State Treasury) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | LATVIJAS WALSTS KASES SIHME PEEZI SIMTS RUBĻI 500 WALSTS KASES SIHMES NODROSCHINATAS AR WISEEM WALSTS IHPASCHUMEEM Financu Ministrs Walsts kases pahrvaldneeks |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries allegorical vignettes representing Agriculture, Industry, and Navigation, arranged within a guilloche-bordered panel. Inscriptions appear in both German and Russian, reflecting the multilingual character of the early Latvian state issues. The overall design is executed in a single colour on a fine lathe-work underprint ground. |
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| Comments |
Latvia's 1919 State Treasury notes were issued under extreme pressure — the country had declared independence only months earlier in November 1918, and competing military forces, including German Freikorps units and the Red Army, were actively contesting Latvian territory well into 1919. A functioning currency was both a practical necessity and a political assertion during a war that was still being fought.
The P#8 500 Rubļi is among the higher denominations of this first provisional series, which retained the ruble unit rather than the lats — the distinctly Latvian currency that would not arrive until 1922. These Treasury notes functioned on borrowed monetary vocabulary while the state itself was still being built under fire.