100 Markkaa

Finland declared independence in December 1917, and the civil war that immediately followed — lasting from January to May 1918 — meant the Bank of Finland was issuing currency while the country was actively at war with itself. The White government retained control of the bank throughout, and notes issued during this period circulated primarily in White-held territory. Red Guard forces in the south issued their own competing scrip.

Pick 40 belongs to the first independent Finnish issue series, printed before the bank could establish stable domestic production arrangements. Hoarding during the conflict years was significant, and genuinely circulated examples with honest wear are rarer than the survival numbers suggest.