5 euro - Upward

1 November 2022 marks a centenary since the establishment of Latvijas Banka. During this period, an independent and competent institution with a long-term vision on monetary policy issues, providing the basis for sustainable development of the state has been created. The coin "Upward" dedicated to the centenary of Latvijas Banka "Upward" is a coin inviting and pushing us upward and striving upward itself. This is a progressive coin highlighting the bank's journey through the past and clearly pointing in its future direction. It also suggests that the present is this deliberate upward movement. This coin of steps and times provides evidence of a rich culture and welfare, of the many things our country has experienced and how much it has moved forward. A hundred years have gone by. May there be another hundred, and another, and another! There is no end to the stairs or the journey. Understanding of the national central bank and its tasks has changed over the past 100 years. Some of its functions belong to the past, and new functions have been introduced, as possibilities offered by payment technologies also keep changing. The primary task of Latvijas Banka remains unchanged: to ensure that the value of our money is retained and that the modern digital format of money also maintains its trustworthiness in public eyes. A river is never just flowing upstream. It is born of a small stream and is reaching toward the sea or infinity. The name of the coin also includes an allegory of overcoming gravity. A man also overcomes gravity when climbing upward or else he would never see the mountain top. When placed on an even surface both the obverse and reverse of the coin display a slanting angle pointed toward the viewer. The mirror steps featured on the obverse provide a glimpse of the eternal present and also the future which is man himself. A human life is a journey. The upper step is drenched in light and forms an image of a sunrise marking the upward movement and reaching the sky. This shape of a rising sun is also a representation of the bank's logotype – the edge of a rising sun – and it resonates with the upward movement that overcomes the force of gravity.