Obverse. Photo © NumisCorner.com
  • 5 Euro 2017, KM# 257, Finland, Republic, Presidents of Finland, Risto Ryti
  • 5 Euro 2017, KM# 257, Finland, Republic, Presidents of Finland, Risto Ryti
  • 5 Euro 2017, KM# 257, Finland, Republic, Presidents of Finland, Risto Ryti, Paper coin envelope (front)
  • 5 Euro 2017, KM# 257, Finland, Republic, Presidents of Finland, Risto Ryti, Paper coin envelope (inside)
  • 5 Euro 2017, KM# 257, Finland, Republic, Presidents of Finland, Risto Ryti, Cardboard coin box
Description

By decision of the Ministry of Finance, Mint of Finland in 2016–2017 released a series of base metal collector coins with a nominal value of EUR 5. The collector coins of the Presidents of Finland series featured in the Finland 100 programme celebrating the centennial of Finland's independence. A total of eight coins paying tribute to the presidents of Finland, with the coins of K.J. Ståhlberg, L.K. Relander, P.E. Svinhufvud, Kyösti Kallio, Risto Ryti, C.G.E. Mannerheim, J.K. Paasikivi and U.K. Kekkonen. The collector coins are designed by Tero Lounas.

The fifth coin in the Presidents of Finland series, a collector coin paying tribute to the fifth President of Finland, Risto Ryti. There are two variations of packing: a paper coin envelope or cardboard coin box.

Issue date: 06.03.2017

Obverse

Bears the portrait of Risto Ryti.

Risto Heikki Ryti (1889–1956) was the fifth president of Finland, from 1940 to 1944. Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of economics and as a political background figure during the interwar period. He made a wide range of international contacts in the world of banking and within the framework of the League of Nations. Ryti served as prime minister during the Winter War and the Interim Peace. Later he served as president during the Continuation War.

After the war, Finnish communists and the Soviet Union demanded Ryti be tried as "responsible for the Finnish War". This came as a shock to the Finnish people who held Ryti in high esteem. After considerable pressure from the Soviet Union, Ryti was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, in a trial that was illegitimate and a miscarriage of justice from the Finnish perspective. Despite Ryti and his fellow convicts not being treated particularly badly in prison, Ryti's health failed during his sentence. In 1949 he was pardoned by President Juho Kusti Paasikivi.

After the Soviet Union collapsed, Ryti's reputation was publicly, but not officially, restored. The government's position on the propositions for the rehabilitation of Ryti and his fellow convicts has been that an official rehabilitation is unnecessary as the honour of the convicted has never been lost. The idea of annulling the sentences or the act retroactively has been considered to be unnecessary and contrary to Finnish judicial practice. In 1994, a statue of Ryti was unveiled near the Parliament House. In 2004, in the YLE TV-series Suuret Suomalaiset (Great Finns) Risto Ryti got the second highest number of votes.

RISTO RYTI 1889-1956

Reverse

Features a landscape of Finnish fields, framing an open book depicting a constructed urban environment.

Inscriptions include the state name in two national languages – Finnish (Suomi) and Swedish (Finland), designer's initial (L) and the Mint of Finland’s company mark (the Lion logo). Denomination below.

SUOMI L FINLAND 2017
5 EURO

Edge
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Bi-Metallic
Ring Cupronickel
Center Copper Aluminum Nickel
Weight 9.8 g
Diameter 27.25 mm
Thickness 2.3 mm
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Mint of Finland

Related coins

Lauri Kristian Relander

Presidents of Finland

Bi-Metallic, 9.8 g, ⌀ 27.25 mm
Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg

Presidents of Finland

Copper Aluminum Nickel, 9.8 g, ⌀ 27.25 mm
Kyösti Kallio

Presidents of Finland

Bi-Metallic, 9.8 g, ⌀ 27.25 mm