2025 Latvia €5 Fine Silver Proof Coin - First Latvian Book 500 Years

• Mint: Royal Dutch Mint
• Denomination: 5 Euros
• Quality: Proof
• Issue limit: 2,500 pcs.
• Alloy: 99.9% Fine Silver
• Diameter: 35 mm
• Weight: 22 grams
• Fine Silver Weight: 0.71 oz
• Artist: Anete Melece-Olivadoti
• Box/Capsule: Yes/Yes
• Certificate: Yes

Additional Information

Please click here for the official web page in English!

This issue celebrates the 500th anniversary of the first book published in Latvian.

In the era of religious wars, Protestant publications were often subject to persecution and destruction. One such episode unfolded in 1525, when Lutheran handbooks in Latvian and Estonian – describing the order of worship in the Protestant tradition – were confiscated in the port of Lübeck. The confiscated books were burned in Lübeck and never reached Riga – their intended gateway to Latvian and Estonian readers in Livonia. Yet the earliest translations of Christian texts into Latvian were soon followed by others, ushering in a new era of Latvian culture – one that endures to this day, along with the living tradition of reading Latvian books.

The obverse depicts the abstract face of a reader, with hands holding a book in the foreground. The book cover bears the inscription "LATVIEŠU GRĀMATAI 500" ("LATVIAN BOOK – 500").

The reverse tells, in a sequence of scenes, the story of the first book printed in Latvian – from its printing in a typography and loading into a barrel for transport, to the opening of the barrel and inspection of the shipment at a port, and, finally, the burning of the confiscated books. The year "1525" is positioned at the upper left, the inscription "PIRMĀS LATVIEŠU GRĀMATAS STĀSTS" ("THE STORY OF THE FIRST LATVIAN BOOK") is arranged in a semi-circle along the right side.