Designer: Anneli Sipiläinen
Ag 925, 39.6mm, 27.4g
Mintage BU 7,100 - PROOF 27,900

Obverse: Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim
Reverse: The Fortress of St Peter and St Paul in St Petersburg, Russia.
Edge: Plain

The coin pays homage to one of the most important figures in modern Finnish history, C.G.E. Mannerheim. He was an officer in the Imperial Russian army, led the White forces to victory in the Finnish civil war (1918), was the Commander-in-Chief during the Second World War, and briefly served as President of Finland. Significantly, it was the first time that he appeared on a Finnish coin. The reverse commemorates the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city of St. Petersburg.

Quite a bit of controversy surrounds this coin for Finnish collectors. It seems strange that a foreign city, and at times a hostile enemy, should be commemorated on a Finnish coin. In addition, while Mannerheim did serve in the Imperial Russian army, the connection to the Fortress of St Peter and St Paul is weak at best. Secondly, his most important contributions to Finland were not during his service under the Emperor, but only after Finland declared its independence. Consequently it was viewed as very bizarre that Mannerheim's first commemoration on a coin was tied to a Russian theme. Also viewed as peculiar was the official release ceremony of the coin being held in St. Petersburg in conjunction with the 300th anniversary celebrations, not in Finland. Finally, the design elements of the reverse has an odd combination: a Russian fortress and the 12 stars representing the euro countries.

Very nice. Are those mintage figures correct?



Only 7100 BU issued. That's got to be pretty hard to find.

Sounds like a Leninist may have come out of the woodwork in Helsinki. Next will be the 10 Euro commem for Vladimir Ulyanov's sojourn in Helsinki

Gustav Mannerheim was commemorated on a USA stamp back in the 1960's, I have some of them somewhere, also some commems for the 50th anniversary of Finlands independence.

Those are the figures published by the Mint's retail unit. They are also found in the Finnish Numismatic Society's catalogue.

If it was simply the Finnish market, I think that 7100 is still a relatively large figure, but since this is a Euro coin, and thus appeals to a larger collector base, it does make it a bit more difficult to find.

Heh heh, while there are still a small handfull of socialists still active, I think most Leninists have gone the way of the Dodo here. I think it was more a question of 1) Satisfying some by finally putting Mannerehim on a coin; 2) The Mint thus makes a bundle by selling it; and 3) the Government approves this thinking it is a great idea, but places little to no thought in how it is carried out: design, symbolism, etc.