20 Markkaa

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.