The Mint of Finland honours the greatest Finns of their time

The Mint of Finland begins its new season with the striking of commemorative coins in honour of the designer Kaj Franck and the natural scientist Pehr Kalm.

‘Finnish designers and scientists today are highly regarded around the world. With these commemorative coins we want to honour both Franck and Kalm who were international pioneers in the fields of Finnish design and science,’ explains Paul Gustafsson, CEO of the Mint of Finland.

In memory of a Finnish design legend

This year marks 100 years since the birth of the design legend Kaj Franck. The Mint of Finland is marking this with its Kaj Franck and Industrial Art commemorative coin.

The company is offering this coin, designed by sculptor Reijo Paavilainen, in an Iittala glass Vitriini case. The commemorative coin packaged in a Vitriini case represents a piece of interior design that pays homage to Finnish work and art.

A coin in commemoration of Nordic science

Finnish scientific study is being honoured with this commemorative coin named after the Finnish natural scientist Pehr Kalm. One of the ‘apostles’ of Carl Linnaeus, Pehr Kalm, explored North America and was the first in the world to write a scientific account of the Niagara Falls. Kalm brought back from the New World hundreds of new plant species and the state flower of Pennsylvania and Connecticut, Kalmia latifolia, is named after him.

The Pehr Kalm and European Explorers commemorative coin is the Nordic entry in the official European mint joint commemorative coin programme. All participants in the European Silver Star programme will strike a euro coin to commemorate great explorers. They will feature this programme’s star insignia.

Download the high resolution images of the reverse side and the obverse side of the coin from here.

For further information:

Henna Karjalainen
Communications and Marketing Manager
Mint of Finland
+ 358 50 575 9197
henna.karjalainen(at)mint.fi

The Mint of Finland Ltd is the leading mint in Scandinavia and the Baltics and is the sole owner of AB Myntverket, the mint of Sweden, and has a 50-percent shareholding in the Norwegian Det Norske Myntverket. The Mint of Finland designs, markets and mints money and it is owned by the Finnish State. The company produces metallic currency, commemorative and special-issue coins and coin sets. The Group employs some 110 people and exports to nearly 40 countries. During 2011, the Mint of Finland will issue six new commemorative coins and seven provincial coins. Finns are able to see how coins are produced at the ‘About a coin’ exhibition at Heureka, the Finnish Science Centre. For further information about this, go to: www.suomenrahapaja.fi