Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Latvia declared its independence on November 18, 1918. After a confused period of fighting, the new nation was recognized by Soviet Russia and Germany in 1920. There are several notgeld issues from Latvian towns and cities, so I thought I would record some of them here. Most collectors may be aware of the issues of Mitau (Jelgava), with one side in German and the other in Latvian or Russian but other pieces may be less well known to some collectors. Some values are in Pfennig and Mark but others are in Kopecks and Rubles:
5pf note dating from 1915 from Mitau, Germany : (now Jelgava, Latvia)
50 Kopeks + 1 + 3 rubles from Libau (now Liepaja, Latvia)
Here are some other scans and further information, provided to me by fellow PMF collector colleague ‘stlnats‘:
Another 4 different face values from Mitau
Here is a much rarer 5 Ruble issue from Cesis which is totally in Latvian. It was issued by the ‘Executive Committee of the Worker’s Council in the District of Cesis’ during the Bolshevik occupation of the area in 1919.
The 3 notes from Libau that you have posted above, are remainder pieces as they have no serials and they didn’t enter circulation. Look at the following postcard and you can see the notes have serial numbers:
This is a good example of an actual circulated piece:
