Latvijas Banka issues a collector coin 'Building the Unbuilt'

On Thursday, 17 October, Latvijas Banka will issue a collector coin "Building the Unbuilt", dedicated to Marta Staņa, a distinguished architect known for her work in the Latvian modernist style. The Dailes Theatre building is her most notable realised work, whereas many other of her projects have remained unrealised. In her role as a teacher, she has inspired many up-and-coming artists, designers, and other creative professionals. 

Marta Staņa is a renowned figure in the history of architecture, design, and art. Her architectural creations were realised between the 1950s and the 1970s. While most of her works have not been preserved in their original form, Staņa's most significant achievement – the Dailes Theatre building – continues to fulfil its cultural role with pride and stands as a lasting testament to modernist architecture, remaining accessible to the public today. 

Marta Staņa mixed cutting-edge ideas for museum, café, and office buildings, and possibilities offered by form and innovative materials with empathy for the environment, nature, and people. The architect designed the space and its objects as a cohesive ensemble, and introduced this principle in design education. Moreover, Marta Staņa was a gifted artist, vividly bringing her architectural concepts to life through visualisations on paper. 

The architect also held teaching positions at Riga School of Design and Art and the Art Academy of Latvia. Her approach has inspired several generations of artists, stage designers, interior designers, and designers. 

The coin features fragments of Marta Staņa's project sketches: two of her most notable works in Riga – the Dailes Theatre building and the experimental multi-apartment residential building at Brīvības iela 313 – alongside her unrealised projects: sketches for a viewing tower on Gaiziņkalns, Rēzekne open-air stage, Budapest National Theatre, and elements of landscape design and trees, which together represent the complexity of Marta Staņa's architectural practice. 

The graphic design of the coin was created by Rūta Jumīte, artist and multidisciplinary designer. This marks her debut in coin art. 

The collector coin will be available for purchase only on the website e-monetas.lv/en from 12:00 (noon) on 17 October. The price of the coin is 85.00 euro; the purchase limit for one buyer will be 3 coins. The mintage of the coin is 2500. The coin was struck by Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Netherlands). 

Latvijas Banka expresses its gratitude to the Latvian Museum of Architecture for the support offered in the process of creating this coin.

BUILDING THE UNBUILT

Face value: 5 euro

Weight: 25.00 g

rectangle with rounded corners (32.00 mm × 32.00 mm)

Metal: silver of fineness .999; colour print on the obverse and reverse

Quality: proof

Maximum mintage: 2500

Struck in 2024 by Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Netherlands)

Artist

Graphic design: Rūta Jumīte

Obverse

Fragments of Marta Staņa's project sketches: in the centre – Dailes Theatre in Riga with a yellow print in the background, below it – the roof of Rēzekne open air stage (the project has not been realised), on the left – a façade fragment of a residential building at Brīvības iela 313, Riga, on the right – a wooden shape. At the top – the inscription LATVIA, at the bottom – 5 EURO.

Reverse

Fragments of Marta Staņa's unrealised project sketches: in the centre – a viewing tower on Gaiziņkalns with a blue print in the background, below it and on the right – fragments of Budapest National Theatre sketches (stairs and columns), on the left – a wooden shape. At the top on the right – the year 2024, at the bottom on the left – the inscription MARTA STAŅA.

Edge

Plain.

Activity of Latvijas Banka regarding the issuance of collector coins and 2 euro commemorative coins 

Since 1993, Latvijas Banka has issued 98 lats collector coins and 56 euro collector coins. Overall, more than 50 artists from Latvia and now also 1 artist from Ukraine have participated in designing Latvian coins.

Latvian coins have received high international recognition and a number of prestigious awards; moreover, the "Coin of Latvia" won the international 2010 Coin of the Year Award at the contest organised by US numismatics publishing house Krause Publications and its magazine World Coin News. In 2015, the silver collector coin "The Baltic Way" was recognised as the Best Contemporary Event Coin at this contest, whereas in 2018, the collector coin "National Entrepreneur" was named the Most Artistic Coin of the Year. At the competition Coin of the Year Awards (COTY) in 2020, the "Honey coin", Latvijas Banka's collector coin, was announced the world's Most Artistic Coin and the Coin of the Year.

The Coin Design Commission of Latvijas Banka (the former Commission for the Thematic Concept of the Banknotes and Coins), which has been active since 12 November 1993, plays an important role in the coin issuing process. The Commission consists of employees of Latvijas Banka, outstanding experts in Latvian art and culture as well as artists and scientists. 

After the euro changeover, Latvijas Banka has carried on the tradition of issuing collector coin series with motifs characteristic of Latvia and executed in high artistic quality. These coins are legal tender only in the issuing country. They are unlikely to come into general circulation, for, by nature, they are works of art enjoying high demand from the numismatic community and other interested parties. 

The face value of collector coins must differ from that of coins in general circulation (it must be, e.g. 5 euro or 10 euro). Their specifications, including colour, diameter, weight, material, etc. have to be cardinally distinctive from those of the coins in general circulation. 

For information on the collector coins on sale at e-monetas.lv/en and the Cashier's Office of Latvijas Banka, see https://www.e-monetas.lv/en and https://monetas.bank.lv/en/coins-for-sale. 

The issuance of 2 euro commemorative coins (2 euro circulation coins of special design) is another area of coin art. Each year, every euro area country is entitled to issue two 2 euro commemorative coins (similar to 1 lats special circulation coins previously issued in Latvia), featuring events of national, European or global significance. The euro area countries can additionally produce a third 2 euro commemorative coin, provided that it is issued jointly and that it commemorates events of European Union-wide importance. 

Commemorative coins bear the same features and the same common or European side as the normal 2 euro circulation coins, while their national sides differ and feature a national commemorating motif. 

Euro commemorative coins are legal tender throughout the euro area. This means they can be used – and must be accepted – just like any other euro coin.