A Lucky Find

While searching through coins in the Cambodian artifacts stall at the Russian Market, I came across an old Latvian coin from 1931.

It was a strange find among dirty and rusting French Indochinese cents. The filthy American 1969 nickel makes a lot more sense, but the Latvian coin seemed bizarrely out of place.

Less than four years ago, I walked the streets of Riga, Latvia and found the Magarik family's apartment building and a few Magarik entries in in a 1929 phone book.

How did a 77-year old Latvian coin end up in a market in Phnom Penh? There must be a good story.

Any Ideas?