Celebrating a sea that has many faces

The design for the ethical collector coin was chosen by public vote from a selection of entries from high-school students for the second year in a row. This year, high school students from many countries around the Baltic Sea were invited to send their designs in for the competition. The competition entries included some magnificent designs sent in from as far away as Russia.

The public were able to vote for their favourite design from 15 June to 22 August on Mint of Finland's website. Traditionally the Collector Coin Committee, which is organised by the Finnish Ministry of Finance, has chosen the winning design but this time vote was given over to the public.

A fresh look at the cycle of life

Essi Kulju, who is a second-year student of the arts at Kajaani senior high school, created a design that won an overwhelming majority of the public vote. Kulju says that her design reflects the cycle of life, and she modestly tells that the victory came as a surprise to her. However, Kulju's teachers were not at all surprised.

"The artwork is simple and fresh - it conveys a young person's fresh outlook on life. The coin's obverse side shows how people use the Baltic Sea while the reverse side speaks of the importance of the sea to nature," noted Jaana Toivonen and Hannele Pussinen, art and craft teachers at Kajaani senior high school.

Ethical art from Kainuu

It was the second year in a row that the Ethical collector coin design competition was won by an art student from Kajaani senior high school. Last year, the public voted for another Kajaani resident Roope Määttä's design as the winning look for the Children and Creativity collector coin.

What's more, second and third place also went to budding Kajaani artists. Second place in the Protecting the Baltic Sea collector coin design competition went to Henriikka Hänninen for her entry, "Cycle". Third prize was claimed by Aino Soininen for her piece, "Playing with water".

Headmistress of Kajaani senior high school Anna-Maija Palo says that the secret to her school's success is an encouraging and supportive teaching style.

"Our teaching in art and crafts has been praised for the fact that our students are encouraged to find their own style. We don't want to pigeonhole our students into certain styles," says Palo.

Kulju's competition-winning design will be minted onto the coin and she will receive a prize of 2,000 euros. The prize for second-placed Hänninen is 1,000 euros and third-placed Soininen will get 500 euros.

Further information:

Yrjö Sotamaa
Chairman of the Collector Coin Committee
yrjo.sotamaa(at)aalto.fi

Maija Hiiri
Secretary of the Committee on Collector Coins
maija.hiiri(at)mint.fi
Tel. +358 9 8943 4332

The Ministry of Finance makes the decisions on the issue of official Finnish collector coins. To assist in practical matters, it set up the Collector Coin Committee, which is comprised of members of the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Finland, Mint of Finland and representatives of culture and the arts. The committee will make independent proposals for new collector coins. After the Ministry of Finance makes a favourable decision, the committee will organise a design competition and select a winner. Finally, the committee will propose that the Ministry use the winning entry for a coin’s design. The chairman of the committee is Professor Emeritus Yrjö Sotamaa. Other members include Senior Budget Secretary Marja Kirppu from the Ministry of Finance, docent Maria Lähteenmäki from the University of Helsinki, curator Heikki Halme of the Ateneum Art Museum, Head of Currency Mauri Lehtinen of the Bank of Finland's Currency Department and Mint of Finland's CEO Paul Gustafsson. Representatives or artist associations (the Finnish Association of Architects, Ornamo, the Association of Finnish Sculptors) are invited to participate in the Collector Coin Committee's meetings as experts. In addition, the committee may invite other experts who are familiar with the subject. For further details about the Collector Coin Committee's activities, see our website at www.suomenrahapaja.fi