10 Pennia - Aleksandr II

Finland's copper coinage of this period was issued under Russian imperial authority but denominated in the Finnish markka system, itself only established by Alexander II's monetary decree of 1860 — part of a deliberate policy to give the Grand Duchy a degree of economic administrative autonomy distinct from the Russian ruble zone. The Helsinki Mint struck these under the supervision of mint master Lars Isak Bergenheim, whose initials appear on the coins alongside the imperial cypher.

The 1865 opening year of this type coincides with Finland gaining the right to manage its own monetary policy through the Bank of Finland, a privilege no other autonomous region within the Russian Empire held at the time.