In February 1929, the Latvian Ministry of Finance decided to issue a ℒ︁𝓈 5 circulation coin depicting the head of a maiden, which would symbolize the Republic of Latvia and freedom.

The Latvian maiden was to be replaced by a portrait of the authoritarian leader of Latvia, Kārlis Ulmanis.

(Even prior to the war, Latvian people had started to hoard silver coins to prepare for the imminent crisis.)

As the general society was given no prior warning, an estimated 50 million lats were never exchanged for rubles.

[4] The image of the maiden featured on the reverse of the coin was used in the design of the modern Ls 500 banknote.