Type Silver coin Material Silver 925° Issuance Date 2000 Month December Nominal Value 1 Ls Maximum Mintage 6 000 Quality Proof Weight (g) 31.47 Diameter (mm) 38.61 Graphic design Plaster model Minted Valcambi SA (Switzerland) available: 0

Obverse

The large coat of arms of the Republic of Latvia is featured in the upper part of the obverse. Beneath the coat of arms, there is the inscription LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA (Republic of Latvia). The numeral 1 is placed in the lower part, and beneath it, the inscription LATS is arranged in a semicircle. The year 2000 is to the left of the inscription LATS.

Reverse

The central motif is a drawing by Guna Barbale, an eleven-year-old Latvian girl: a child standing on the top of a hill is set against the background of rivers, hills and the sun. The motif, which is encircled by the inscription FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD, is topped by the UNICEF logotype.

Edge

Two inscriptions LATVIJAS BANKA (Bank of Latvia), separated by three stars.

The coin's reverse bears a drawing of an eleven-year-old girl, Guna Bārbale, who won a competition of 4 000 works by over 3 000 works by Latvian children.

The child on the crossroads is the pivot for the flowing river and the alluring road, and the vertical that serves to link the Earth's gravity to the vastness of the Universe.

With the very first days of life, a child perceives its immediate surroundings as its natural environment. With experience comes the understanding that beyond the horizon lie worlds yet to be explored.

In childhood, there is a communion with the secret rites of the Nature. It is a world of possibility and wonder that for an adult tends to disappear behind a facade of rationality and compromise.

A child's world lacks a clear cut border between reality and fantasy, between what exists and what is desired. It is a world of freedom. It is up to adults to make the world such that this childish sense of freedom may easily transform into a different, responsible freedom.

Is the world ready for me? Will it welcome me? Asks the child at the crossroads.