10 Pennia - Aleksandr II Pattern

This is one of several pattern pieces struck in 1863 as Finland established its own coinage under the monetary reforms initiated by Alexander II, who had convened the Finnish Diet that same year for the first time since 1809. The decision to grant Finland a separate currency — the markka system — was a deliberate political concession, part of Alexander's broader strategy of managing Finnish autonomy within the Russian Empire without triggering the nationalist pressures then destabilizing other parts of his realm.

KM#Pn3 documents this as a pattern, meaning it never reached circulation; the copper 10 pennia that eventually circulated differed in specification.