In people’s wallets, 18 October 1993 was the Latvian ruble’s last working day. The Latvian ruble, the temporary money that in 1992 helped Latvia leave the former Soviet ruble zone, ceased to be legal tender. The lats had already taken over prices and cash registers at a rate of 1 lats to 200 Latvian rubles, but the transition was not confiscatory: the Bank of Latvia continued to exchange rubles for lats without restriction. In the ordinary act of buying something, one of independence’s most practical reforms came to an end.

The Latvian ruble was a transitional currency between the Soviet monetary space and the restored lats. Its withdrawal from circulation in autumn 1993 made monetary independence not only political but tangible in daily life—in prices, wages, receipts, and people’s pockets.