1926 Latvia 2 Santimi Coin

Description: 1926 Latvia 2 Santimi Coin. Beautiful details!! 2 Santimi Features Issuer: Latvia Period: Republic (1918-1940) Type: Standard circulation coin Years: 1922-1932 Value: 2 Santimi (0.02) Currency: Old lats (1922-1940) Composition: Bronze (95% Copper, 4% Tin, 1% Zinc) Weight: 2g Diameter: 19.5mm Thickness: 0.93mm Shape: Round Technique: Milled Orientation: Medal alignment Demonetized: Yes Number: N#4919 ReferencesKM#2,Schn#2 Obverse National arms above ribbon Script:Latin Lettering: LATVIJA HUGUENIN Engraver:Rihards Zari Reverse Value and date Script:Latin Lettering: 2 Santimi 1922 R. ZARRI Engraver:Rihards Zari Edge Plain Mints Heaton's Mint, Birmingham, United Kingdom (1850-1889) Royal Mint (Tower Hill), London, United Kingdom (1810-1975) Hug. Huguenin, Le Locle, Switzerland (1868-date) Comments In his extensive study of the 1, 2, and 5 santimi coins of the first Latvian Republic, Mihails Boko (www.world-coins.weebly.com) uncovered many historical facts. Some results of his efforts are summarized below. More details can be foundin his articles(in Russian) and inthis explanatory video(in Russian). Mints This coin type was produced at three minting facilities: Huguenin Frres & Cie (Le Locle, Switzerland): 1922, 1923 Birmingham Mint (Heaton & Sons, Great Britain): 1926, 1928 Royal Mint (London, Great Britain): 1932 Coins minted by Huguenin Frres carry the mint name below the ribbon on the obverse. Coins minted in Great Britain do not carry a mint name. Variants with or without mint or designer name It is often assumed, on the basis of information from the Standard Catalog of World Coins, that there are two variants of the 2 santimi 1922. Over time, the description of this variation changed fromwith or withoutdesignersnametowith or withoutmintname: The reason for the acknowledgement of alleged variants of the 2 santimi (and equally of the 1 santims and 5 santimi), is that by design, the lettering of the mint and designer name is very delicate and even hard to read by the naked eye. Some coins seem to be missing one or the other, or both, but do show (weak) traces of them on a closer look. Because of the small and subtle nature of the lettering, apparent absence of the mint or designer name has to be attributed to die wear and die filling at the mint or post mint circulation wear and corrosion. Positive attribution of a missing mint or designer name is possible only for high grade examples, having the coin at hand (rather than from an image). Apart from the fact that the coins struck by Huguenin Frres (1922-1923) feature the mint name, and the coins struck in Great Britain (1926-1932) do not, there isno ground to assume structural variationwithin any of the years of the 2 santimi. The 1923 Patterns The Latvian government was not satisfied with the quality of the dies of the 1922 strike. In response, Huguenin Frres prepared new dies for the 1923 strike, with an improved, more pronounced relief. Sample coins were sent to the Latvian government, but ultimately, no more 2 santimi coins were ordered from Huguenin. According to official contemporary documents, the pattern coins had a weight of 2.5 gr. In the 1990-ies, all 1923 pattern coins preserved in the Latvian National Archive were stolen and offered for sale to a coin dealer. The mintage reported in SCWC is actually the number of patterns acquired by this dealer. More copies may still be at large. In addition, Huguenin Frres has an unknown number of these pattern coins in their archive. The mintage of 2 is the lowest estimate, the exact number is unknown. Of the coins dated 1926, 900,000 were minted in 1925 and 4,100,000 were minted in 1926. Of the coins dated 1932, 250,000 were minted in 1931 and 4,750,000 were minted in 1932.

Price: 12.95 USD

Location: Pueblo, Colorado

End Time: 2024-12-16T06:01:26.000Z

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