100 Markkaa

Suomen Yhdyspankki — the Union Bank of Finland — was established in 1862, making this note barely four years into the bank's existence. Finnish commercial banking was still finding its footing under Russian imperial oversight, and private banknote issue by chartered institutions was permitted but tightly watched. The markka itself had only been established as Finland's independent monetary unit in 1860, severing the formal tie to the Swedish riksdaler.

Private bank issue in Finland was wound down progressively through the late nineteenth century as the Bank of Finland consolidated its monopoly. Notes from this early Yhdyspankki series had short effective circulation windows and are rarely encountered outside archival holdings.