The Bank of Latvia today issued a silver anniversary coin, "Water coin". The author of its design is artist Ilmārs Blumbergs; its plaster model was made by sculptor Jānis Strupulis. 

The Bank of Latvia anniversary coins are miniature art works dedicated to Latvian treasures: events, successes, people expressive of our culture. It has already become a tradition for the Bank of Latvia to have a coin, extraordinary in terms of its form and philosophical in terms of its message, struck before the oncoming Christmas and New Year. This year the Bank dedicates a special coin to water designed by artist. Ilmārs Blumbergs. Water is the basic substance of all forms of life known to us, it has been of decisive importance in the development of human race and has played a great role in the spiritual life of humans: religions, mythology, art. Water has also been regarded as a source of health and joy. 

The obverse of the coin feature flying droplets of water and the reverse an ice crystal whose form depends both on the purity of water and the influence of sounds and words. The purer and more harmonious is the music, the more beautiful the shape of the crystal. The unusual shape of the coin has been encoded with the idea of cooperation between the human mind that seeks to organize everything and the elemental forces of nature. 

Among the Bank of Latvia unusual coins there are also, e.g., the millennium “Button”, the “Coin of Destiny” - silver with a gilded obverse and both silver-and-niobium “Coins of time” with blue or purple highlights, the heptagonal “Digit Coin”, and the “Coin of Life” with gilded design elements on both sides. 

Specification of coin:

Quality: Proof
Metal: Ag
Purity: 0.925
Weight: 26g
Face value: 1 lats
Mintage: 7000
Edge: Plain
Designer: Ilmars Blumbergs (graphic design), Janis Strupulis (plaster model)
Mint: Rahapaja Oy (Finland)
Type: Commemorative
Shape and style: Square

Source of information: Bank of Latvia www.bank.lv