A swan gliding over dark water, the Swan of Tuonela from the Kalevala’s realm of the dead, is the hero of the Finnish 2 euro of 2015, issued for the 150th anniversary of Akseli Gallen-Kallela. The painter, famed for his illustrations of the national epic, is remembered through his main source of inspiration.

The water beneath the swan ripples outwards, conveying the descent of the spirit. At the bottom is the artist’s palette with his year of birth «1865» and the year of issue «2015», next to the mint mark; the name «AKSELI GALLEN KALLELA» runs around below the horizon line, at whose right end stand the letters «FI».

Gallen-Kallela was born in Pori on 26 April 1865 and was known as Axel Gallén until 1907. His best-known Kalevala paintings, «The Defence of the Sampo», «Lemminkäinen’s Mother» and the «Aino» triptych, date from 1896–1899, and for the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris he painted the frescoes in the dome of the Finnish Pavilion.

In the same year Finland also dedicated a 2 euro coin to the 150th anniversary of Jean Sibelius, the painter’s contemporary, and the Swan of Tuonela links the two: the same image lives in the composer’s tone poem of that name. The Gallen-Kallela coin was released in October 2015 with a total mintage of 500,000, of which 482,000 were for circulation.

Grade UNC: the coin has never circulated, the fine ripples beneath the swan and the small numerals on the palette are untouched by wear, and the mint lustre is intact. Paired with the Sibelius 2 euro, it completes 2015 as Finland’s anniversary year of culture.

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