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500 Markkaa, Sarja II 1918
| Issuer | Suomen Pankki (Bank of Finland) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Markka (1860-1963) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Blue-toned note with a central vignette of two blacksmiths flanking an anvil, with denomination numerals in the upper left and right corners. The design omits the Czarist imperial eagle present on earlier issues. Bilingual inscriptions appear in Finnish on the left and Swedish on the right, with two signatures in the lower centre and serial numbers at the lower left and right beneath the series designation "Sarja II / Serie II". |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Green and tan note centred on a large ornate guilloche frame enclosing a landscape vignette of a waterfall set amid trees. Denomination numerals "500" appear in sunburst cartouches at the lower left and right, with the Finnish lion coat of arms in a medallion below the central vignette. The bank name is inscribed in Finnish and Swedish in bold lettering across the lower portion of the central design, with a line of Cyrillic text along the very bottom margin. |
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| Comments |
This note was printed in 1909 but issued under entirely different political circumstances than its designers anticipated. Originally produced for the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland under Russian imperial rule, the Sarja II 500 Markkaa ended up circulating during and after the Finnish Civil War of 1918 — a conflict that split the country between Reds and Whites and created acute pressure on the Bank of Finland's reserves. The "1918" in the series designation reflects the year of formal issue authorization, not production.
At 500 Markkaa, this was a high-denomination note by the standards of the period, and circulation wear on surviving examples tends to be light — these moved through commercial and institutional channels rather than daily retail trade.