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29.12.2014
To conclude the year 2014, on December 31, which is the last day when stamps denominated in lats may be used, three Latvijas Pasts post offices will hold a cancellation event for the special envelope dedicated to this occasion. The cancellation event will take place at Riga post office No. 50 at 2 Stacijas Laukums, Daugavpils post office No. 20 at 136 18th Novembra Street and Liepāja post office No. 3 at 3/5 Jaunā Ostmala. The print run of the envelope is 3,000.
In accordance with the Law on the Procedure for Introduction of the Euro, December 2014 is the last month when stamps released from 1991 to 2012 and denominated in lats are valid to use. To mark the last day when stamps denominated in lats may be used, Latvijas Pasts releases a special envelope to be cancelled at three Latvijas Pasts post offices on December 31, using special cancellation which will be different for each office. The special cancellation will take place from 10 AM to 7 PM at Riga post office No. 50 and from 10 AM to 5 PM at Daugavpils post office No. 20 and Liepāja post office No. 3.
The envelope and the cancellation have been designed by artist Ģirts Grīva. The special envelope together with the cancellation can be viewed here.
The stamps with a denomination in lats released by Latvijas Pasts will be withdrawn from circulation on January 1, 2015. All mailings paid with stamps denominated in lats until December 31, 2014 will be delivered to the customers. It should be noted that the period of circulation and use of the stamps where the denomination is expressed in both lats and the euro is not limited. Since January 2, 2014, along with the accession of the Republic of Latvia to the Eurozone, only stamps with a face value in the euro have been issued in the country.
In order to ensure that the value of the stamps with a denomination in lats purchased by the population is preserved, Latvijas Pasts will offer a free exchange of stamps denominated in lats for the stamps with the same face value in the euro from January 5, 2015 through June 30, 2015. Personalized stamps will not be accepted for exchange. The exchange of the unused stamps denominated in lats will take place at post office No.44 located in the central office of Latvijas Pasts at 10 Ziemeļu Street, Riga International Airport, Mārupe Municipality. More information on this process is available here.
During the period from 1991 to 2012, Latvijas Pasts issued approximately 600 stamps with a denomination in lats, while in 2013, 23 stamps with a double face value were released.
Latvijas Pasts released stamps with a face value in lats from 1993 to 2013, when lats were reintroduced as the national currency of the restored Republic of Latvia. In addition, stamps with a denomination in lats also include the stamps issued in 1991 and 1992 whose initial value in the rubles of the USSR and later – in the rubles of the Republic of Latvia was converted into lats and which were renewed in circulation along with the reintroduction of lats in 1993. Over the period of 22 years, Latvijas Pasts issued more than 600 stamps with a print run of millions of copies and with different denominations in lats. Many of these have not only been used to pay for the shipment, but also have become rarities in the collections of stamp collectors around the world. The stamp value in the community of collectors is determined by its face value, print run, theme and availability in the market.
The denomination of stamps released by Latvijas Pasts before January 2013 is always lats (LVL) even if the currency has not been indicated, whereas stamps denominated in the euro can be recognized by the € symbol. The amount in numbers appearing on the stamps with a double face value stands for the value in lats, while the value in the euro is shown using a relevant amount in numbers and the € symbol. The sample stamps can be viewed here.
All stamps released by Latvijas Pasts from 1991 to 2014 are available for viewing here.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with more than 4,200 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by TNS Latvia, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Gundega Vārpa,
Head of the External Communications Department
Phone: +371 67608505
E-mail: gundega.varpa@pasts.lv
twitter.com/latvijas_pasts; facebook.com/latvijas.pasts