The Latvian ruble () was the name of two

currencies A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or currency in circulation, circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use wi ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

: the Latvian ruble, in use from 1919 to 1922, and the second Latvian ruble, in use from 1992 to 1993.

First Latvian ruble (no currency code)

After the proclamation of the Republic of

in 1918, a great variety of different currencies were in circulation: ostrubels, ostmarks,

papiermark The Papiermark (; 'paper mark') was a derisive term for the Mark (currency sign, sign: ℳ︁) after it went off the gold standard, and most specifically with the era of Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic, hyperinflation in Germany of 1922 a ...

s, the so-called ''Tsar rubles'', the so-called ''Duma Money'', as well as

promissory note A promissory note, sometimes referred to as a note payable, is a legal instrument (more particularly, a financing instrument and a debt instrument), in which one party (the ''maker'' or ''issuer'') promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of ...

s issued by several town municipalities. On 4 February 1919, the

Latvian Provisional Government The Latvian Provisional Government () was formed on November 18, 1918 by the People's Council of Latvia as the interim government of the newly-proclaimed Republic of Latvia during the Latvian War of Independence. The term encompasses three cabin ...

authorized the Minister of Finance to issue the first currency notes of the Republic of Latvia: Treasury notes. They were denominated in

ruble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

s ( Latvian: ''rublis'', plural: ''rubļi'' or ''rubłı'') and

kopeck The kopeck or kopek is or was a coin or a currency unit of a number of countries in Eastern Europe closely associated with the economy of Russia. It is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system; 100 kopeks are worth 1 ruble o ...

s (Latvian: ''kapeika'', plural nominative: ''kapeikas'', plural genitive: ''kapeiku''). On 27 March 1919 the exchange rates for the Latvian ruble were fixed at 1 ostmark, 2

s and 1.5 imperial rubles. Between April 1919 and September 1922, currency notes were issued in denominations of 5, 10, 25, and 50 kopecks and 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 500 rubles. No coins were issued. 5 Latvian Roubles 1919

The first state currency notes were printed in 1919 by

Andrievs Niedra Andrievs Niedra ( old orthography: ''Andreews Needra''; 8 February 1871 – 25 September 1942) was a Latvian writer, Lutheran pastor and the Prime Minister of the German puppet government in Latvia between April and June 1919, during the Lat ...

's government, which was considered pro-German and illegal, and was overthrown in the same year. The legal government of

Kārlis Ulmanis Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis (; 4 September 1877 – 20 September 1942) was a Latvian politician and a dictator. He was one of the most prominent Latvian politicians of pre-World War II Latvia during the Interwar period of independence from N ...

printed quite similar notes but with different signatures on them. This government recognized the previously printed banknotes as legal tender. The designer of these banknotes was Jūlijs Madernieks. Latvian rouble banknotes were also issued by municipalities of the

Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic The Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic (, LSPR) was a short-lived socialist republic formed during the Latvian War of Independence. It was proclaimed on 17 December 1918 with the political, economic, and military backing of Vladimir Lenin and ...

from 1919 to 1920. On 3 August 1922, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the "Regulations on Money" which introduced the '' lats'' as

's national currency, with one lats equalling 50 rubles. The ruble remained in circulation alongside the lats for a time.

Second Latvian ruble (LVR)

Latvia's regained independence was recognized by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

on 6 September 1991. In the first four months of 1992, the country was adversely affected by inflation of the

Soviet ruble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, r=rubl', p=rublʲ) was the currency of the Soviet Union. It was introduced in 1922 and replaced the Russian ruble#Imperial ruble (1704-1922), Imperial Russian ruble. One ruble was divided into 100 kopecks ...

. Immediate return of the lats was not an option, since it would be devalued very quickly. To resolve the problem, on 4 May 1992, the Monetary Reform Commission of the Republic of Latvia passed a resolution "On Introduction of the Latvian ruble". From 7 May 1992, a temporary currency, the Latvian ruble (LVR), was put into circulation as a legal tender parallel to the existing ruble notes. It was declared equal in value to the Soviet ruble. Latvian ruble notes (widely known as ''repšiki'', after the then governor of the Central Bank, Einars Repše) were issued in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 200, and 500 rubles.

Lats

The second Latvian ruble was withdrawn from circulation on 18 October 1993, but could be exchanged for lats until 1 July 1994, when it lost validity. and the historic national currency - the '' lats'' - was reintroduced in 1993, replacing the Latvian ruble at the ratio of 1 lats (LVL) = 200 rubles (LVR). On 1 January, 2014, lats was replaced by the

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

at the rate of 0.702804 lats to 1 euro.

References

{{Ruble Modern obsolete currencies Economy of Latvia Currencies of Latvia 1919 establishments in Latvia 1922 disestablishments in Europe 1992 establishments in Latvia 1993 disestablishments in Latvia 1993 in Latvia 1990s in economic history