In honour of the 150th anniversary of the Finnish currency, coins depicting the crucial turning points in the history of the Finnish currency have been included in the 150-Year Jubileum collection. The commemorative Finnish currency 150 years coin is the first euro collector coin made of Finnish gold. The coin includes a reindeer antler as a hallmark of Finnish gold.

The 20-copeck coin is one of the last Russian coins used in Finland

In December 1859, the Finnish Senate petitioned the Tsar for permission to start using its own currency. The argument was that the value of the rouble was too high for a poor country like Finland. St. Petersburg understood the benefits of a smaller currency unit, and the Senate was ordered to proceed with the matter in more detail.

On March 10 1860, the Senate passed a resolution to adopt the finmark as the official Finnish currency. Divided into 100 pennies, the finmark was worth a quarter of a rouble. Tsar Alexander II approved the proposal and the new currency was adopted on April 4, 1860. The 150-Year Jubileum collection’s 20-kopeck silver coin is one of the last Russian coins used in Finland.

The 50-pence coin is one of the first coins ever minted at a Finnish mint

The first silver marks were minted at a Finnish mint on 15 October 1864. The 150-Year Jubileum collection’s 50-pence silver coin is one of the first coins minted at a Finnish mint.

Finnish metal coins were first made available to the public in November 1865; an enormous crowd gathered in front of the Bank of Finland’s main office for the occasion. Initially, only copper coins and 25- and 50-pence silver coins were available. Full silver coins, and one- and two-mark coins, were not launched until March 1, 1866.