Coins of Finland

In 1808, following the results of the Russian-Swedish war, the lands of Finland were transferred to Russia as a governor general within the Russian Empire. Emperor Alexander I, in a declaration of March 16, proclaimed these lands "annexed forever," not even assuming that after a hundred years the Russian Empire would collapse and the Finnish, Polish, Courland and other territories would become independent states.

 

This survey on coins of Finland consists of two parts describing coins of the Grand Duchy of Finland and coins of the Republic of Finland.

 

So, being Swedish, Finland was not allowed to have its own money, so Swedish riksdalers were in circulation. With the advent of the Russians, both riksdalers and Russian rubles were used in the calculations for a rather long period. And only in 1840, the Russian ruble began to be used as the only legal tender in the circulation of the Grand Duchy of Finland.

 

 

Senator Fabian Langenskiöld (Fabian Langenskiöld) - Chairman of the Financial Council of the Senate of the Grand Duchy of Finland was the initiator of sending in 1859 to the Emperor of the Russian Empire Alexander II a petition for the release of his own monetary unit on the territory of the Grand Duchy. The reason for this was the instability of the Russian ruble during the Crimean War, the actual value of which was already less than nominal and fluctuated depending on the exchange rate of the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange.

 

In January 1860, the Emperor initially rejected the petition, fearing that confidence in the ruble abroad would fall as a result of such a decision, but a little later, on April 4, 1860, by the Highest Decree of Emperor Alexander II, the Grand Duchy of Finland was allowed to issue its own currency. It was a brand equal to the ¼ of the Russian ruble. Such a course was not chosen by chance, because the main monetary unit of the subject of the Empire could not be equal in value to the ruble.

 

The name of the mark/penny currency units was chosen as a result of an announced competition. The winners bypassed such difficult competitors for Russian hearing as sataikko/äyri, sampo/muru, suomo/rahtu. The name "mark" has not been used by anyone to denote a currency. The brand of the German Empire appeared 10 years later, in 1871. 

 

 

Fabian Langenskiöld, and later his successor Johan Wilhelm Snellman, prepared the first issue of the national currency during 1858-1863. A serious obstacle to finding your own currency was the insufficient amount of silver in the treasury of the principality - the issue of the first own money without providing precious metals became questionable. The famous banker Karl Mayer von Rothschild came to the rescue, kindly agreeing to borrow the required amount to buy silver.

 

In 1864, a mint was opened in Katayanokka, the district of the capital of the Grand Duchy of Helsingfors. A considerable merit in this belongs to August Fredrik Soldan, the first mintsmeister and director of the Mint of Finland from 1861 to 1885.

 

 

In 1864-1865, the first line of coins was issued. The design of the coins (especially the coat of arms) was developed by the Russian artist and imperial heraldist Alexander Fadeev, and the samples of 1863 were made by the engraver of the Swedish mint Lea Fredrika Ahlborn.

 

Copper coins of the reign of Alexander II (1858-1881) were issued in two types, differing in font size, size and shape of denomination digits, crown design over monogram. The first type was produced from 1864 to 1871, the second type from 1872 to 1876.

 

 

The obverse of copper coins depicts the monogram of the Russian autocrat, on the obverse of silver - the coats of arms of the Grand Duchy of Finland against the background of the coat of arms of the Russian Empire. Please note that there is no mention of the issuer who issued them on the coins - only the face value and the indicated attributes of power.

 

Silver coins, starting in 1872, also acquired an updated design, expressed in a new coat of arms and the thickness of a wreath around the face value.

 

 

 

Since the plots on silver coins were in no way tied to the ruling monarch, their design, with minor changes, was preserved during the reign of Alexander III and Nicholas II.

Silver coins on the bottom right under the eagle indicate the letters S (1864-1876), L (1889-1911), then S again (1913-1917), indicating the surname of the current mintsmeisters of the mint of Finland: August Fredrik Soldan, Johan Conrad Lear (Johan Conrad Lir hr ), Isaac Gustaf Sundell, respectively

 

On November 7, 1865, the value of the brand was separated from the Russian ruble and "tied" to the international silver standard. In 1878, in connection with the adoption of the gold standard, the mark was tied to the French franc, like other currencies of the Latin Monetary Union.

 

 

 

 

 

The revolutionary unrest in Russia could not but affect Finland. After the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II, the Provisional Government came to power in Russia in March 1917, which continued to consider Finland as part of Russia, so it appointed a new governor general and issued a line of coins in denominations of 1 to 50 pennies with the coat of arms of the Provisional Government - a two-headed eagle, but without a  crown.

 

 

In 1917, Finland gained independence from the RSFSR and became a Republic. As in Russia, the post-revolutionary confrontation in 1917-1918 in Finland escalated into a civil war . The only coin issued by the Free Finnish Government during this period was a 5 penny copper coin, called "trumpet" among numismatists. The legend on the coins reads "People's Labor, People's Power" (KANSAN TYÖ, KANSAN VALTA). 

 

After the right-wing coalition won the Civil War over the Social Democrats, Finland's financial situation improved somewhat. This allowed the government to carry out a full-fledged monetary reform. In 1918-1921, the first line of coins of the Republic of Finland was put into circulation. The uncomplicated design of the coins was developed by the same Isaac Gustav Sundel. 

 

 

 

The revival of the Finnish economy was hindered by the global recession of the 1930s. Despite the drop in the face value of the national currency, minting trifles older than 5 pennies has not been abandoned. But, at the same time, the size and weight of the 1 mark coin decreased, and the Government was forced to issue coins of large denominations: 5, 10 and 20 marks on aluminum-bronze blanks.

 

 

In 1939, the Soviet-Finnish war began, and then the Second World War. Coins of Finland of this period are placed in the corresponding theme .