Catalog
5 Markkaa
| Issuer | Suomen Pankki (Bank of Finland) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1897 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 115 × 70 mm |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | SUOMEN PANKKI maksaa tästä setelistä VIISI MARKKAA KULLASSA FINLANDS BANK inlöser denna sedel med FEM MARK I GULD (Translation: Bank of Finland will pay for this banknote Five Marks in Gold [Finnish above, Swedish below]) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ФИНЛЯНДСКІЙ БАНКЪ 5 МАРОКЪ ЗОЛОТОМЪ FINLANDS BANK 5 MARK SUOMEN PANKKI 5 MARKKAA LAKI SUOMEN SUURIRUHTINAANMAAN RAHASTA ANNETTU HELSINGISSÄ 9P:NÄ ELOKUUTA 1877. 1§ SUOMENMAAN RAHALAITOKSEN KANTANA ON KULTA AINOANA ARVONMITTANA. (Translation: [Russian] Bank of Finland 5 Marks in Gold; [Swedish] Bank of Finland 5 Marks; [Finnish] Bank of Finland 5 Marks; [Swedish/Finnish, small lettering] The law on the Grand Duchy of Finland's money enacted in Helsinki on 9th of August 1877. 1§ The Finnish monetary system recognises gold as the sole standard of value.) |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Finland's monetary system in the 1890s operated under the gold-backed markka, which the country had managed independently since 1878 despite remaining a Russian Grand Duchy. The Bank of Finland's ability to issue currency with no Russian imperial iconography was a practical concession Moscow never fully rescinded, giving Finnish notes a distinctly separate administrative identity from rouble-zone paper.
The P#2 5 Markkaa series is among the earliest surviving small-denomination Finnish issues in collector hands. Many lower-value notes from this period were used hard and discarded; bank archives suggest redemption rates were high, and surviving examples with intact margins are genuinely uncommon.