When Finland became part of Russia in 1809, the rouble became the national currency. Swedish money continued to be used alongside Russian notes until the 1840 monetary reform, which established the silver ruble as the main currency. During the Crimean War (1853–56), Russia had to abandon the silver standard.

From rouble to Finnish markka

In December 1859, the Senate petitioned the Tsar for permission for Finland to start using its own currency; the argument was that the rouble was too big a currency for a poor country such as Finland.

St. Petersburg understood the benefits of a smaller currency unit, and the Senate was ordered to proceed with the matter. On March 10, 1860, the Senate passed a resolution to adopt the markka as the Finnish currency. Divided into 100 pennies, the markka was worth a quarter of a rouble.

The name markka was proposed on the grounds that it was the oldest monetary term known in Finland, originating from a medieval unit of weight. Tsar Alexander II approved the proposal and the new currency was adopted on April 4, 1860.

Finnish monetary system becames totally independent

The markka was tied to silver in 1865. Russia failed to return to the silver standard, which meant that the monetary systems of the two countries became inadvertently separated.

Finland adopted the gold standard in 1878, thus making its monetary system fully independent. Russia did not adopt the gold standard until 1897. The inflation caused by the Great War forced Finland to stop using the gold standard in 1915. The second period of the gold standard lasted from 1926 until 1931.

The devaluation on New Year's Day in 1946 led the 500, 1,000 and 5,000 notes to be literally slashed in half: the bills had to be cut in two, and the left half remained valid currency, but worth only half of the original denomination. The right-hand half of the note had to be submitted to banks, levied as a forced loan.

News markka and new euro

In the 1963 monetary reform, the new markka was adopted; it was worth 100 of the old markkas. During the transitional period - and for long after - the new currency was referred to as "nykymarkka" (new markka) or NMK, while the previous currency was "vanha markka" (old markka) or VMK.

On 1 January 1999, Finland joined the euro, the European common currency, and the Finnish markka ceased to exist as an independent currency. One euro was worth 5.94573 markkas.

First euro coins and notes were issued in the beginning of 2002. The euro was used alongside the markka for two months, and the use of markka-denominated currency ceased on 28 February 2002.