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50 Markkaa
| Issuer | Suomen Pankki (Bank of Finland) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Blue-toned note centred on a vignette of a stylised sailing ship, with the Czarist eagle removed from the original design. Denomination in large numerals occupies the upper left and right corners, flanked by bilingual text in Finnish on the left and Swedish on the right. Two signatures appear in the lower centre, with serial numbers at the lower left and lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | SUOMEN PANKKI MAKSAA TÄSTÄ SETELISTÄ VIISIKYMMENTÄ MARKKAA KULLASSA (Translation: Bank of Finland will pay for this banknote Fifty Marks in gold) |
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| Comments |
Finland declared independence in December 1917, and the civil war that erupted in early 1918 immediately complicated the new state's monetary arrangements. Suomen Pankki had been operating under Russian imperial oversight; breaking that connection and establishing credible domestic currency was urgent business conducted under battlefield conditions.
The 1918 series was printed domestically under considerable constraint, and the wartime paper stock shows it — foxing and toning are endemic to surviving examples, not signs of poor storage. Notes from the Red-controlled south and White-controlled north circulated in overlapping geographies during the conflict, and some examples bear handling consistent with that chaotic dual circulation.