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500 Markkaa 1918
| Issuer | Bank of Finland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909 |
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| Value | 500 Markkaa |
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| Obverse description | Brown-toned note centred on a vignette of two blacksmiths flanking an anvil, rendered in detailed intaglio. A Czarist imperial eagle appears at top centre, with denomination numerals in each upper corner and bilingual text in Finnish (left) and Swedish (right). Two signatures appear at bottom centre, with serial numbers at lower left and lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | SUOMEN PANKKI MAKSAA TÄSTÄ SETELISTÄ VIISISATAA MARKKAA KULLASSA 500 (Translation: Bank of Finland will pay for this banknote Five Hundred Marks in gold 500) |
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| Comments |
Finland's 500 Markkaa notes of this series were printed well before the country's 1917 independence declaration, yet this particular denomination circulated through one of the most turbulent episodes in early Finnish history — the 1918 civil war, fought between the White Guards and the Red Guards within months of breaking from Russia. The Bank of Finland continued issuing pre-independence stock throughout the conflict, which is why the 1909 printing date on notes circulating in 1918 raises no contradiction.
High-denomination notes from this period frequently show heavy wear or damage from wartime handling, and forgeries were produced by both sides during the conflict.