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20 Kopecks
| Issuer | Finlands Wäxel-Depositions och Låne-Bank (Bank of Finland) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1832 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Kopecks (0.20) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black on plain paper, the note carries the Imperial Russian double-headed eagle vignette at top centre as the principal emblem of authority. Below the eagle, a lengthy letterpress text in three languages — Swedish, Finnish, and Russian — constitutes the body of the note, setting out the depositary obligation of the Grand Principality of Finland's Exchange-Deposit and Loan Bank to the bearer. The denomination numeral "20" appears within the multilingual text. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is largely unprinted, presenting a plain cream-coloured paper surface. Show-through of the obverse text and vignette is visible due to the thinness of the paper stock. Two handwritten ink signatures appear at the lower portion, with a serial number notation hand-inscribed at the upper right, consistent with period banking practice for individually authenticated notes. |
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| Comments |
Finland's early monetary arrangements were genuinely peculiar. After 1809, when Russia absorbed Finland as an autonomous grand duchy, the existing Swedish monetary system persisted for decades before St. Petersburg pushed toward rationalization. The Bank of Finland — operating under its original Swedish-language charter name — issued assignat-style notes denominated in kopecks and rubles, effectively grafting Russian monetary units onto a Swedish banking institution serving a Swedish-speaking administrative class.
The 1832 date places this note in a period of acute scarcity for small denomination paper. Copper coinage shortages drove demand for fractional notes that most central banks of the period refused to touch. Very few examples from this series have survived in any condition — institutional redemption was thorough.