Type Gold coin Material Gold 999.9° Issuance Date 2007 Month October Nominal Value 1 Ls Maximum Mintage 15 000 Quality Proof Weight (g) 1.2442 Graphic design Plaster model Minted Staatliche Münze Berlin (Germany) available: 0

Obverse

The small coat of arms of the Republic of Latvia is in the central field, with the inscription LATVIJAS REPUBLIKA arranged in a semicircle above it, the year 2007 in a semicircle to the left and the inscription 1 LATS in the middle and to the right at the lower part of the coin.

Reverse

The reverse features the graphic mark of the publishing house Zelta ābele.

Edge

Reeded.

The golden apple tree, an ancient and always novel symbol, is featured on the reverse of the coin. The tree and its golden fruit have been well-known in Europe at least since the Roman times when apples ripened in the Garden of the Hesperides. With the Indo-Europeans spreading across the ever growing world, the golden apple tree and other archetypical signs reached the territory of present-day Latvia. In Latvian fairy-tales, the golden apple tree is usually closely related with the activities of Mother Laima, one of the most significant members of the Latvian pantheon of Gods. A symbol of good luck, the golden apple tree lends a helping hand to the poor orphan girl, who is an embodiment of virtue, but bars the way to the spoilt daughter of the master. To this day, the golden apple tree has retained its position as a symbol of quiet yet virtuous life.

In 1935, when the independent Republic of Latvia was enjoying some economic stability, book publisher Miķelis Goppers (1908–1996) founded Zelta ābele, a new publishing house that was to publish limited edition books of high aesthetic value aimed at book lovers and collectors. The publisher's logo was created by Voldemārs Krastiņš (1908–1960), a landscape artist and master of etching who also became one of the first illustrators of Zelta ābele books. By the summer of 1940, when Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union, the publishing house had managed to produce 48 books, all of the gold standard of Latvian book art. Subsequently, the publishers were able to resume their activities only for short periods, nevertheless aspiring to artistic and typographic perfection.

Thus enriched with wisdom found in books, the golden apple tree of myth and fairy-tale has become a multifaceted symbol of perfection unlikely to have many counterparts elsewhere in the world.