Latvijas Banka on Sept. 26 issued a Proof .999 fine silver €5 with gold plating, dedicated to the role of science in our lives and the scientists’ persistence in seeking answers to questions about the future of humanity.

“By symbolically representing the process of nuclear fusion, the ‘Energy Coin’ tells us about the biggest challenge of the modern world — the search for an inexhaustible source of energy to protect natural resources and achieve a balance between the whims of our age and the interests of future generations,” the bank said, in a press release.

German Ermics designed the coin, which was struck at the Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt (the Royal Dutch Mint).

Design explanation

The obverse of the coin depicts the main nuclear energy production reaction.

Nuclear components are depicted as silver hollows for neutrons and gold-plated beads for protons. The nuclei of two hydrogen isotopes — deuterium and tritium — fuse to form a helium nucleus and a free neutron. The opening in the center of the coin represents the site of the reaction. The inscription 5 EURO is placed at the right.

The reverse of the coin depicts two groups of circular shapes in differing degrees of frosting or gilding merging at the central opening. They represent the physical fields necessary to sustain nuclear fusion both in nuclear fusion reactors on Earth and in stars in space. The inscription LATVIJA is placed in a semicircle at the upper left and 2024 is at the bottom on the right.

The edge features n; 2H; 3H; 4He – the symbols for the free neutron and hydrogen isotopes.

The coin weighs 18 grams and measures 39 millimeters in diameter. It has a mintage limit of 3,000 pieces.

The coin retails for €77 through the bank’s e-commerce platform, e-monetas.lv/en.

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