1 Lats 2010 - Toad.

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On issuing the 1-lats circulation coin featuring the picture of a toad

Riga 4 June 2010

Monday, 7 June, the Bank of Latvia will begin circulating a new 1-lats circulation coin with the picture of a toad on the reverse. The coin is legal tender in the Republic of Latvia. The coins will be circulated the same way as any other circulation money, reaching commercial and other enterprises and the population via banks. The authors of the graphic design and plaster cast are Edgars Folks and Jānis Strupulis respectively.

The new 1-lats coins were struck at the German mint Staatliche Münze Berlin.

The toad occupies an important place in Latvia's natural environment and the popular mentality alike, it is considered to help farmers and bring blessing to households.

Director of the Latgale Zoo and senior researcher at the Ecology Institute of the University of Daugavpils Dr.biol. Mihails Pupiņš notes that the common toad, Bufo bufo is one of the most common amphibians in Latvia occupying an important place in the ecosystem; for millennia it has also been a farmer's helper because it protects the harvest from bugs and snails. The toad young eat mosquitoes as well, so this promises to be a good year for them!

The folklore and mythology scholar, professor Janīna Kursīte also points out that in the popular lore the toad is associated with luck and good fortune: "The toad embodies a blessing to the house. In the past, toads were specially fed milk so they would bring fortune to the house." Moreover: "The money toad brings wealth. If you leave one toad coin in your wallet, it just may happen that money pours in as if from a horn of plenty."

Referring to the role of the toad in nature and human life, Mihails Pupiņš and his colleagues at the Zoo have this to say: "We hope that the toad lats will promote the development of clean and environmentally friendly agriculture in Latvia. Toads have many offspring: each female toad spawns 3-4 thousand roe annually, so we can only wish that it would encourage Latvian families to grow larger and also that each toad coin would bring as many and more lats in profit to anyone who gets a hold of one!"

There are also circulation coins with pictures of a stork, an ant, a boletus mushroom, Sprīdītis (Latvian Tom Thumb), St Peter's rooster, a pretzel, a midsummer night's wreath, a pine cone, an owl brooch, a snowman, a water-lily, a chimney sweep, the traditional Namejs's ring, and a Christmas tree (http://www.bank.lv/eng/main/all/lvnaud/coin/1lats/). Such coins are planned to be circulated in the future as well up to the time when Latvia becomes a full member of the Economic and Monetary Union and introduces the euro.

The reverse of the 1-lats coin features the likeness of a toad; on the obverse there is the minting year of the new coin, 2010. There are no other differences - in terms of the coin band, size, the metal used or the weight - between the new coin and the other 1-lats circulation coins.

The circulation of the coin is one million and, just like in the case of the other circulation coins, it will not be supplemented.

Toad

Face value: 1 lats
Weight: 4.80 g, diameter 21.75 mm
Metal: cupro-nickel
Struck in 2010 by Staatliche Münze Berlin (Germany)
Artists: Edgars Folks (graphic design), Jānis Strupulis (plaster model)

LV_2010_Toad.jpg

Obverse
The large coat of arms of the Republic of Latvia, with the year 2010 inscribed below, is placed in the centre. The inscriptions LATVIJAS and REPUBLIKA, each arranged in a semicircle, are above and beneath the central motif respectively.

Reverse
A toad is in the centre, with the numeral 1 and superscript inscription LATS above.

Edge
Two inscriptions LATVIJAS BANKA (Bank of Latvia), separated by rhombic dots.


The toad family in Latvia is represented by the common, green, and running toad, and the fire-bellied toad and European common spadefoot, also generally referred to as 'toad', are protected species as is the running toad which was honoured as the Latvian animal-of-the year in 2007. The peculiarities of the way a toad looks, its ability to secrete a foul smelling fluid, and the metamorphosis from a tadpole to an adult are at the basis of many folk beliefs.

The toad is active at night and also in rainy weather, so seeing a toad in bright daylight meant impending rain to those in the know. The Latvians of old considered the toad a creature of the so-called Milk Mother; hence a toad should be honoured by leaving out a bowl of milk - then it would make the cows produce more milk. The House Spirit was also said to sometimes take the form of a toad, so toads were allowed in the house and feed-lot and fed. The special Latvian pagan deity, Mother of Satiation, appeared as a toad to leap around food and lend it satiety.

The toad is associated with fertility: in the ancient Latvian folksongs it carries the water for the beer brewing ritual; its presence helps the harvest. Like the grass snake, the toad was considered to bring blessing to cattle, therefore he who killed a toad risked to have cows go dry and the skin on his hands turn toadlike. By contrast, to circle around a toad three times guarantees good fortune. We are entrusting the toad with just this mission: to bring luck and good fortune to each household where money is spent prudently