It may be the year of the ox, but a pig is the star of the latest commemorative coin issued by the Bank of Latvia.
The one-lat coin features a picture of a pig (cūciņa) drawn by Emīlija Adumāne of Rīga when she was six years old. Above the image of the pig is Adumāne’s phonetic spelling of the coin’s value, “LAC 1.” Her drawing was one of about 4,000 entries in a 2008 contest, “Mana sapņu monēta,” according to a March 26 press release from the Bank of Latvia.
The pig is an archetypal character in the Latvian consciousness, according to the press release, symbolizing well-being, goodness and comfort. The pig also has been a favored character in popular culture, from the fable of the three pigs and the wolf, to more recent examples such as the Australian film Babe.
The silver proof coin was minted by Finland’s Rahapaja Oy based on a plaster mould by Ligita Franckeviča. The averse of the coin features Latvia’s coat of arms, while the reverse has the drawing of the pig. Circulation of the commemorative coin is limited to 5,000. It will be available for sale in banks, souvenir shops and jewelry stores. At the Bank of Latvia, the coin will retail for LVL 23.10.
The latest commemorative coin from the Bank of Latvia features a drawing of a pig.
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For a country whose incompetent governments and a cultural unwillingness to tackle endemic corruption, and which persists with an overvalued but non-tradeable currency which has given its national debt junk bond status, the pig might just be the appropriate currency!