Finland

2015

Commemorative coin

The 150th anniversary of the birth of artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Official Journal of the European Union

On the top of the design there is a swimming swan of Tuonela. The water below the swan is waving from the descending spirit. The indication of the issuing country ‘FI’ is at the right end of the horizon line. At the bottom of the design there is the artist’s palette with Gallen-Kallela’s year of birth ‘1865’ and the year of issuance ‘2015’. Next to the pallet is the mint mark. The artist’s name ‘AKSELI GALLEN KALLELA’ is on the ring of the coin, below the horizon line. The coin’s outer ring depicts the 12 stars of the European flag.

Additional information

Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish painter, architect and designer. He is best known for his illustrations for the Finnish national epic "Kalevala". The coin designer chose two figurative elements from his painting "Lemminkäinen's Mother", created in 1897: the swan of Tuonela, the river of the underworld, and the waves symbolising the sinking spirit.

Edge lettering

Designer