Mint of Finland commemorates Pehr Kalm, the greatest Finn of the age of the Enlightenment by issuing a commemorative coin on January 28. Kalm was the first to record a scientific measurement of the Niagara Falls.

When explorers during the age of the Enlightenment headed off to the unknown corners of the earth, the father of natural sciences, Carl Linnaeus, sent one of his 17 ‘apostles’, Finnish-born Pehr Kalm, off to North America.

During the course of his dangerous travels through troubled regions, Kalm discovered hundreds of new varieties of plants. He wrote up his findings in a series of travel sketches 'American Journeys' and his description of the Niagara Falls was published in several papers.

The father of an American state flower and of the Finnish Boston ivy

After getting back to Finland, Kalm concentrated on testing how the flora of the New World would adapt to Finland's conditions. As a result of this work, Boston ivy grows today in Finland.

Kalm is immortalized in the name of state flower of Pennsylvania and Connecticut, Kalmia latifolia.The obverse of the Pehr Kalm and European Explorers commemorative coin features a beautiful mountain laurel.

On the reverse side, the Niagara Falls are depicted. The commemorative coin is one of the official, joint collector coin programme of the mints of Europe. The star logo of the European Silver Star programme is depicted on the reverse side of the coin.