Latvian rubłi
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Latvian ruble was the name of the currency used in Latvia from 1919 to 1922 and from 1992 to 1993.
First Latvian Ruble
After the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia in 1918, a large variety of different currencies were in circulation - ostrubles, ostmarks, German papiermarks, the so-called Tsar rubles, kopecks, the so-called Money of Duma and kerenkas, as well as promissory notes of several town municipalities.
On March 22, 1919, the Provisional Government of Latvia authorized the Minister of Finance to issue the first money notes of the Republic of Latvia - Treasury notes; they were named Latvian rubles (Latvijas rubłi) and Latvian kopecks (kapeiku). The Latvian ruble was worth 1½ Russian rubles. In the period from April 1919 to September 1922, money notes were issued in denominations of 5, 10, 25 and 50 kopecks and 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 500 rubles.
The first state cash bill was printed in 1919 by A.Niedra's government, which was considered pro-German and illegal, and was overthrown in the same year. The legal government of K.Ulmanis printed quite similar notes but with other signatures on them. This government recognized the previously printed banknotes as a legal payment means. The designer of these banknotes was Jūlijs Madernieks.
On August 3, 1922, the Cabinet of Ministers approved "Regulations on Money". The national currency of Latvia was named the lats (in similar manner as Lithuania's national currency litas, formed from first 3 characters of the state name), and the hundredth part of a lats was named santīms. The lat was equal to 50 Latvian rubles. The Latvian ruble remained in circulation alongside the lats.
Second Latvian Ruble
Latvia regained independence in 1991 and in the first four months of the year 1992 Latvia was adversely affected by the Russian ruble inflation. In addition, the outgoing cash payments surpassed the incoming money amounts by 122 million rubles (5.9%) in February, but in April by 686 million rubles (29.2%), thus causing a very serious shortage of cash.Since the money was emitted by Russia, the Bank of Latvia was unable to improve the cash circulation in the country. The situation fully depended on the possibilities to receive or buy cash and credit resources from the central bank of Russia. It was evident that a crisis could develop by the end of May, when the Bank of Latvia would not be able to execute even the most necessary payments.
To resolve the problem, on 4 May, 1992 the Monetary Reform Commission [1] of the Republic of Latvia passed a resolution "On Introduction of the Latvian ruble". From 7 May, 1992, temporary currency Latvian rubles (LVR) were put into circulation in Latvia as a legal tender parallel to the existing ruble notes of the FSU (SUR). It was declared equal in value with the Russian ruble. The nominal values of the Latvian rubles (widely known as repsīši) were 1, 5, 20, 50, 200 and 500 (later also 2 and 10) rubles. The national currency - the lats - was introduced in 1993, replacing Latvian rubles in ratio 200:1.
External links
- [The Latvian Ruble versus the Russian Ruble] - by Bank of Latvia
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