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20 Markkaa
| Issuer | Bank of Finland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1862 |
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| Currency | Markka (1860-1963) |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress on red underprint. At left, an ornate heraldic crest centres on the Imperial Czarist double-headed eagle; denomination in Swedish appears at right. The principal text, rendered in Swedish, occupies the centre field, with the series year 1862 noted below. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 20 МАРКЬ СЕРЕБРОМЪ Предъяьителю сего Финляндскій Банкъ ьыдаетъ двадцать маркъ серебромъ 20 MARKKAA HOPEASSA Tästä setelistä maksaa Suomenmaan Pankki vaadittaissa KAKSIKYMMENTÄ markkaa hopeassa. Tämän Setelin väärentäminen tahi muukaaminen, kiun myöskin semmosen rahan kauppaaminen, rangaistaan Marraskuun 2 (14) päivänä 1812 annetun Keisarillisen asetuksen jälkeen. (Translation: 20 MARKS IN SILVER From this banknote, the Bank of Finland will pay, on demand, TWENTY marks in silver. [Small text at bottom] The forgery or alteration of this Banknote, as well as the trading of similar money, will be punished under the Imperial decree issued on November 2 (14) 1812.) |
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| Comments |
Finland's monetary history took a decisive turn in 1860 when the country — still an autonomous Grand Duchy under Russian rule — established the markka as its own unit of account, deliberately separating Finnish currency from the Russian ruble. This note, issued just two years after that reform, belongs to the earliest generation of markka-denominated paper money. The Bank of Finland had been issuing notes since 1812, but the switch to the markka system required entirely new plate designs and a fresh authorization framework under the Finnish Senate.
The 1862 series was printed in small quantities and circulated in a country where paper money remained deeply unfamiliar to most of the population. Survival rates are low, and the series as a whole is genuinely scarce in any condition.