Latvian Lats

The currency of Latvia is the lat (plural: lati; ISO 4217 code: LVL or 428), which was the currency of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. It was introduced on 15 April 1922, replacing the lats of the Latvian Republic. A new currency, the lats, was introduced on 1 May 1993, replacing the lat at a rate of 200 to 1. The lat was subdivided into 100 santīmi (singular: santīms; from French: centime). The name was adapted from the French centime, which was in turn derived from the Latin word centum, meaning "hundred". The symbol for the lat was "Ls" (uppercase: LS; from the German: Latsch), and the symbol for the santīms was "s" (lowercase: s; from the French: sou). The symbols were used on Latvian banknotes and coins until the end of the currency. The ISO 4217 code for the lat was "LVL", and the code for the santīms was "LS". The lat was also the currency of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1922 to 1940. It was replaced by the Soviet ruble at a rate of 1:1. The lat was reintroduced on 1 May 1993, replacing the Soviet ruble at a rate of 200:1. The name "lat" was taken from the Latvian word for "bear", which was the animal on the first series of Latvian banknotes. The currency was also sometimes referred to as the "lats". The lat was subdivided into 100 santīmi (singular: santīms; from French: centime). The name was adapted from the French centime, which was in turn derived from the Latin word centum, meaning "hundred". The symbol for the lat was "Ls" (uppercase: LS; from the German: Latsch), and the symbol for the santīms was "s" (lowercase: s; from the French: sou). The symbols were used on Latvian banknotes and coins until the end of the currency. The ISO 4217 code for the lat was "LVL", and the code for the santīms was "LS". The lat was replaced by the euro at a rate of 0.702804 on 1 January 2014.