On 25 October Eesti Pank will release a gold collector coin to mark the 600th anniversary of the first meeting of the Livonian Diet. The coin symbolises above all the desire for regional cooperation for the common good.
Representatives of the most important social groups in Livonia met in conference in 1422 in Cēsis, called Võndu in Estonian, and decided to hold regular meetings as a council or Diet. Meetings of the Diet were held to increase unity and so improve the security of the area, to sign agreements, and to discuss questions of trade and finance. The Diets played an important role in the political life of the whole region of modern-day Estonia and Latvia for almost a century and a half.
The gold coin dedicated to the Livonian Diet was designed by Riho Luuse, who has earlier designed other collector coins for Eesti Pank. The coin depicts a cross ornamented with plant leaves, using an idea from a carving in dolomite above the door of the southern vestibule of the Karja Church in Northern Saaremaa The largest island in Estonia(pop. 31,000). , built in 1334–1340. The design symbolises the unified, certain and continuing growth and spread of Christianity in the Middle Ages. The coin also shows the year 1422 and the words ‘Liivimaa maapäev’, which are Estonian for Livonian Diet. The obverse side shows the coat of arms of the Republic of Estonia and the year 2022. The proof-like quality gold (Au 999) coin weighs 3.11 grammes and is 18 mm in diameter. Three thousand of the coins have been minted and the coin has a nominal value of 25 euros and sells for 250 euros. The coins were minted by the Portuguese mint.
The collector coin dedicated to the Livonian Diet will go on sale from 12.00 noon on 25 October in the Eesti Pank Museum shop and the Omniva an international post and logistics company based in Tallinn Tallinn, the largest city and capital of Estonia (population 440 000). , Estonia. online store.