A series of five collector coins is being struck to mark Finland’s centenary of independence. The series starts on 18 May with a collector coin to recall the decades 1917-1939. The collector coin is not yet on sale. The Decades of Independence collector coins series tells about the first one hundred years of Finnish independence through achievements and difficulties that have been overcome. The series has been designed by Ilkka Suppanen.
“The collector coin is not a celebration of the civil war, but highlights the fact that Finland pulled through this difficult period. I chose the civil war as the motif for the obverse side of the first coin in the series because the civil war tells about the most significant challenge during the period 1917-1939, and how the country recovered from that challenge. The collector coin is based on a photograph in the Labour Archives, which I think tells most clearly about the nature of the civil war,” explains Suppanen.
The obverse side of the first collector coin, which depicts the decades 1917-1939, to be released in the series, reminds us of the civil war facing citizens in 1918 and which Finland pulled through. The reverse side of the collector coin shows Helsinki Olympic Stadium, which was completed in 1938.
The image on the collector coins is designer Ilkka Suppanen’s view of the decades of Finland’s Independence. Suppanen has carried out a significant amount of background work in designing the coins and researched the topic with a number of different experts.
Suppanen decided to show two different sides of the decades of independence on each coin. One side of each coin features the achievements and the other side the challenges and difficulties experienced during those particular decades. The main idea behind the series of collector coins is for us to confront our history through achievements and difficulties: the history that has made us who and what we are.
A total of five coins will be issued in the collector series during 2017-2019. The coins marking the decades 1917-1939 and 1940-1959 will be released in 2017. The coins recalling the decades 1960-1979 and 1980-1999 will be released in 2018. The series will culminate in 2019, with a coin marking the decades 2000-2017.
Each collector coin has a nominal value of €5, is 27.25 millimetres in diameter and weighs 9.8 grams. The coins are struck in base metal and a maximum of 4,000 proof and 15,000 uncirculated coins will be struck for each coin in the series.
Collector coins are struck by decision of the Ministry of Finance. The nominal value, design and technical properties of collector coins are confirmed by Ministry of Finance decree.
Collector coins depicting the decades 1917-1939 in the Decades of Independence series can be bought at Mint of Finland’s online shop and at retailers from 4 May .
For more information, please contact:
Henna Karjalainen
Vice President,Communications
Mint of Finland
+358 50 575 9197
henna.karjalainen@mint.fi
Mint of Finland Group designs, markets and manufactures metal coins, blanks, collector coins, special coins and coinages. Mint of Finland Group is the strongest mint in the euro zone and one of the largest global exporters of metal coins. The company is owned by the Republic of Finland. The Finnish Science Centre Heureka’s exhibition About a Coin demonstrates the various stages of minting coins. For more information on events in 2017, please visit www.mint.fi