New online work sheds light on German influences in Finland’s banknote history
Banknote expert and author Antti Heinonen has written a new work on the history of Finnish money. Heinonen deepens his earlier descriptions of the banknote history of the Grand Duchy of Finland, focusing on international and particularly German influences in the early development of Finnish means of payment.
Starting from Johannes Gutenberg, the role of Germans in the development of printing technology is well known. His innovation gained a significant foothold everywhere. In contrast, the role of the Germans in developing the design, engraving and printing of banknotes outside of Germany is a less well documented in the literature. Even though the Grand Duchy of Finland was part of the Russian Empire, Germans had a role in every series of Finnish banknotes during the Russian period. This applied even to banknotes printed in St. Petersburg, as all of the parties contracted by the Bank of Finland in the printing process were of German origin.
The Bank of Finland and the German foundation Giesecke+Devrient Stiftung Geldscheinsammlung have jointly published the following work written by Heinonen:“Vom Zettel zum Geldschein: Deutsche Einflüsse auf das Design und den Druck von Banknoten im Großfürstentum Finnland” [From piece of paper to banknote: German influence on the design and printing of the banknotes of the Grand Duchy of Finland]. The work is published on the respective websites of the Bank of Finland and the foundation. A English-language summary of the book and a Finnish-language presentation of the themes of the work will also be published.
The Giesecke+Devrient Stiftung Geldscheinsammlung foundation has funded the German-language translation of the work from Heinonen’s English-language manuscript. The book is richly illustrated.
Heinonen has had a long international career in the field of banknotes. For over ten years, he was the first Director, Banknotes at the European Central Bank, where he was responsible for the adoption of the new European cash currency. Heinonen is a well-known author of monetary history works and an internationally respected banknote expert, who has chaired, for example, the Banknote Ethics Initiative and the Executive Committee of the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group.
Previously, the Bank of Finland has published the following works written by Heinonen: “Viimeiset markat – Suomen markkamääräiset setelityypit 1945–2002” (2012), “Ensimmäiset eurot – Eurosetelisarjan synty, liikkeeseenlasku ja ensi vuosikymmen” (2014), “Sodan ja rauhan rahat – Suomen erikoinen setelihistoria 1917–1945” (2016), “Ruplista markkoihin – Suomen suuriruhtinaskunnan setelit 1812–1898” (2018) and “Hallitus kansan kukkarolla – Seteleiden leikkaaminen vuosien 1945 ja 1946 vaihteessa” (2020) as well as the report “Keskuspankin elektroninen raha: Suomen Pankin toimirahakokeilu 1990-luvun alkupuoliskolla” (2021).
Heinonen’s work “Ensimmäiset eurot” has been published in German, “Die Ersten Euros” (2014) and in English, “The first euros” (2015).
On 15 October 2024, a public event will be held at the Bank of Finland Museum, where Antti Heinonen will present the themes of the book to a Finnish audience. The Finnish-language presentation materials of the event will be published on the Bank of Finland’s website.
For further information, please contact Antti Heinonen (antti.heinonen@bof.fi) and media@bof.fi (requests for interviews).