Currency of Latvia
The currency of Latvia is Lat. The ISO code of Lat is LVL and it was replaced by ruble in 1922. Latvia became of official member of USSR in 1940 and in this period, Lat was again replaced with ruble. With the independence of Latvia in 1993, Lat again became the title of national currency of Latvia. Lat is sub divided into 100 santīms, which is derived from French centime. The central bank of Latvia manages the national currency.
The Latvian Currency is divided into two ages, the first starting from 1922–1940 and the second starting from 1993 and going onwards. Being a member of European Union since 2004, it is expected to convert its currency into Euros as soon as it fulfills the requirements of the European currency standards.
The current Latvian currency includes coins of 1, 2, 10, 20 and 50 santīmi along with 1 and 2 lats. The bank notes start from 5 Lati and go up to 500 Latu with denominations also being of 10, 20, 50 and 100 Latu. Apart from regular currency, the Central bank has also issued various commemorative coins of various denominations, which though do not make a part of the regular currency but still are in central bank’s record.