Latvian Motor Museum – History of Automobiles

Latvijas Pasts  released a new stamp on 02nd June-2017, The History of Latvian Automobile Construction – The Unique Exhibits of Riga Motor Museum, dedicating the first stamp to the automobile named Krastin built by the Latvian automobile engineer Augusts Krastins (Augusts Krastiņš) in 1903, the only surviving sample of which is found in Riga Motor Museum.

The face value of the new stamp Krastin is €1.39, which corresponds to the cost of sending a registered Class B letter within Latvia, and its print run is 100,000 copies. The stamp is accompanied by the issue of a special cover with the print run of 1,500 copies. The design author of the stamp and the cover is the artist Girts Griva (Ģirts Grīva). The stamp depicts the unique exhibit of Riga Motor Museum – the automobile Krastin, which was built in 1903 in Krastin Automobile Company in Cleveland, USA, and its author was the talented carmaker of Latvian descent, Augusts Krastins. A.Krastins was born in 1859 in Liepaja, but in the late 19th century emigrated to America to increase his proficiency in the profession of a mechanic and a car-builder.

Krastin Automobile Company founded by A.Krastins existed a mere four years during which approximately ten unique and different automobiles were built, however, the car depicted on the new stamp is the only known Krastin automobile in the world that has survived to this day.