10 Kapeikas

Latvia's earliest fractional notes were produced under severe postwar constraints — the country had declared independence in 1918 and was still consolidating its monetary system while simultaneously fighting off both Soviet and Bermontian forces. This 10 Kapeikas belongs to the 1920 government issue that effectively formalized the lats-predecessor currency before the lat itself was introduced in 1922.

The extreme small format was a deliberate economy measure, not an aesthetic choice. Paper supply was limited, and these low-denomination notes substituted for coins that the nascent Latvian state simply could not yet mint in sufficient quantity.