The obverse of the coin is divided vertically into two fields (proportion 2: 1). The inscription 1 LATS is in the center of the right field, with the year 2006 semicircled at its lower part. The left field features the starry sky.
Reverse
The reverse of the coin is divided vertically into two fields (proportion 1: 2). The right field features an originally struck photo portrait of Krisjanis Barons, topped by a semicircled inscription KAS VAR ZVAIGZNES SASKAITIT… (Who can count the stars…), with Krisjanis Barons' facsimile signature at the bottom. The left field features the starry sky.
Edge
Inscriptions LATVIJAS BANKA (Bank of Latvia) and LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA (Republic of Latvia), separated by a dot.
Latvian dainas is a body of more than one million Latvian folk songs. The Latvian daina is usually in quatrain form, a poetic miniature, strict in form but communicating a rich content. In terms of form, dainas are probably closest to the Japanese haiku. For Latvians they represent both a treasure trove of the nation's material and spiritual heritage and a cultural tradition that is very much alive today.
Who can count the stars …, the phrase quoted on the reverse of the coin above the portrait of Krisjanis Barons (1835-1923), is followed, in the daina, by Who can sing the songs - a poetic way of stating that Latvians have as many folk songs as there are stars in the sky. A mathematician and astronomer, Barons dedicated almost half of his life to the collection of dainas, keeping track of their number and devising a clever and accurate classification system. By involving schoolteachers, pupils, students and narrators in the process, he helped to salvage this unique cultural treasure, which in 1894-1915 in Jelgava and later in St. Petersburg was published in a six-volume edition. Latvians refer to Barons as the Father of Dainas, recognising that through preserved continuity the nation has inherited eternity.
За период с 2012-12-29 по 2024-01-22 монета подорожала на 81%
