The famous duo, who were a couple as well as the most renowned lyricists of their day, will feature on a new 5 euro collector coin available from the Latvian Central Bank from September 8.
"This coin celebrates the 150th anniversary of Rainis and Aspazija, two brilliant minds of Latvia. It is a unique coin due to its specific form and minting technique," the Latvian Central Bank said in a release about the coin, which is made in Lithuania and will be limited to 7,000 examples, costing €59 each.
"The coin is made of two detachable parts, of which one features Rainis and the other bears the image of Aspazija adorned with red flowers, a visualisation of her most popular collection of verse. The reverse of the coin shows lines of poetry, which Rainis and Aspazija dedicated to each other," the bank said, before getting rather poetic itself:
"The coin, a small-form artwork, tells the story of two prominent people who shared the love of life despite being different in their views, poetic approaches and artistic expressions. The technique of minting a coin consisting of two detachable parts is rarely used in coin art but this time it serves as the most accurate means of delivering the message."
The bank has even produced a short film showing off its latest coin (in Latvian only, but it does feature a nice parrot).
Hopefully you now feel suitably inspired to write some poetry. Heads it's a limerick, tails it's a sonnet.
