The Symbol of the Baltic Sea to be Designed by Secondary School Students

Mint of Finland's ethical collector coin for 2011 will be designed by secondary school students invited to participate in the contest. Students from the following high schools of the visual arts in Finland and the Baltic Sea states have been invited to participate in the contest.

In Finland, participating schools include the Helsinki Upper Secondary School of the Visual Arts, the Juhana Herttua High School, the Kajaani Upper Secondary School, the Lapinlahti Senior High School and Senior High School in Visual Arts; the Savonlinna Senior Secondary School of Art and the Tammerkoski High School in Russia; Petrozavodsk Art School No. 1 in Sweden; the Kulturama Gymnasium in Estonia; Tallinna Kunstigümnaasium and the Klaipeda Eduardas Balsys Gymnasium of Arts in Lithuania, and the Liepāja Secondary School of Art in Latvia.

Winner to be Selected by the Public

Each school may submit ten works to the Collector Coin Committee. The Collector Coin Committee will pre-select the ten best works.

The pre-selected works will be published on Mint of Finland's website. After this, the public will vote for the one it likes the best. Visitors to Mint of Finland's website will select a theme for the Protecting the Baltic Sea collector coin by voting for their favourite design in June. The collector coin will be issued in October 2011.

The Endangered Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is in need of international protection. The sea’s vulnerability is owed to its fundamental features: it is a low, cold, brackish inland sea. The problems of the Baltic Sea are a concern for all countries in the region.

The eutrophication caused by loads of nitrogen and phosphorus and the resulting oxygen deficiencies in water masses is the worst threat to the Baltic Sea. Eutrophication also endangers marine species and poses a threat to the livelihoods and recreational activities practiced along the coast.

Ethical Collector Coins Transmit Values from One Generation to the Next

Ethical collector coins have a universal theme promoted by the collector coins. Collector coins transmit an important message and values to us and to future generations.

Collector coins previously issued in the Ethical Collector Coin series include the Peace and Security collector coin (2009) and the Children and Creativity collector coin (2010).

Further information:

Yrjö Sotamaa
Professor Emeritus
yrjo.sotamaa(at)aalto.fi

Maija Hiiri
Secretary of the Collector Coins Committee, Executive Assistant
Mint of Finland Ltd.
+358 (0) 400 485 548
maija.hiiri(at)mint.fi

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 and members include Senior Budget Secretary Marja Kirppu from the Ministry of Finance, docent Maria Lähteenmäki from the University of Helsinki, curator Heikki Malme 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.