Figure 10-3
Figure 10-4
Figure 3
Figure 4-5
Coins for the Great Principality of Finland. From 1864 till 1917 the Helsing- fors Mint struck gold, silver and copper designed for circulation through-out the territory of the Great Principality of Finland having its own monetary sys- tem. On gold and silver coins of this issue the following emblem is depicted (Fig. 10-3): the Russian double-headed eagle with the sceptre and orb; the eagle is crowned with three imperial crowns joined, with the ribbon of the order of St. Andrew; on the eagle's chest there is the Emblem of the Great Principality of Finland (Fig. 3-9; after 1873-Fig. 3-10) in the French shield beneath the Grand Duke's crown (Fig. 4-5) encircled with the chain of the badge of the or- der of St. Andrew. After the February Revolution of 1917 a slightly altered emblem (Fig. 10-4) was present on silver and copper Russian-Finish coins: the imperial crowns along with the ribbon of the order of St. Andrew were removed from the abo- ve-described emblem. In principle, the sceptre and orb should have been with- drawn from this emblem, too; but such changes were found to be impossible for pure technical reasons. The point is that owning to an urgent need for changing the emblem on Russian-Finnish coins, this was done in the simplest way: availab- le matrices were used for manufacturing the emblem dies for a new pattern of coins, with embossed crowns and ribbon being cut off. However, it was impossible to eliminate the sceptre and orb in the same way-in such a case the eagle's gestures would look rather equivocal: its left claw would be pleadingly open and the right one would be threateningly clenched into fist.
Figure 10-3 |
Figure 10-4 |
Figure 3 |
Figure 4-5 |