Culture, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Latvia

"The Coin of the Year" contest is often deemed an equivalent to the Academy Awards (Oscars).

The coins having earned awards in different categories, such as the Best Gold Coin, the Best Silver Coin, the Best Bi-Metallic Coin and others, at the first round of voting will compete for the title of Coin of the Year. All in all for the second round of voting, the panel of judges selected ten winning coins, with the Bank of Latvia's dedication to Richard Wagner among them. The voting will conclude in December, and the results will be published in January 2015.

The Bank of Latvia participates in this coin competition on a regular basis and with good results. Most significantly, in 2010, the gold "Coin of Latvia" topped the Best Gold category and also won the 2010 Coin of the Year Award. Since 2000, such coins as "Millennium", "Destiny", "Fight for Freedom" and "Fog Mists the Pane" have won awards in various categories.

The coin dedicated to Wagner was issued in June 2013 to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the renowned German composer. It commemorates the active Riga period of the composer when he took to writing his first important opera "Rienzi".

The authors of the coin are Aigars Ozolins (graphic design of obverse), Ivo Grundulis (graphic design of reverse) and Ligita Franckevica (plaster model). The coin was struck by Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (Netherlands).

Since 1995, the Bank of Latvia has issued 98 collector coins denominated in lats and five euro coins that, in accordance with the common European methodology, are also designated as collector coins. Over forty Latvian artists have participated in designing them.

The Coin Design Commission of the Bank of Latvia, which is a special purpose entity formed on November 12, 1993, plays a role of utmost importance in the coin issuing process. The commission is made up of the employees of the Bank of Latvia, outstanding Latvian art and culture experts as well as artists and scientists.