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FINNISH COIN DESIGNS WITHDRAWN AMID CONTROVERSYFinland's planned commemorative coins drew online ire for depicting executions and a child's corpse. Art? Truth? Or just bad taste? -Editor
“To my astonishment I discovered that the Mint of Finland had designed commemorative coins, on which there is what I see as a very tasteless picture. I don’t understand how it matches the spirit of Finland’s 100th anniversary – in any way at all. I actually hope that this coin will be withdrawn,” finance minister Petteri Orpo said on Tuesday... To celebrate its hundred years of independence, the Finnish Mint was to release five coins, each representing two decades of that period. Designer Ilkka Suppanen, who came up with the idea, intended to show different events of that time; one of the achievements and the other of the challenges that Finland has faced. Speaking of the controversial coin, Suppanen insisted it is “not a celebration of the civil war,”adding that it “highlights the fact that Finland pulled through this difficult period.” However, the designer’s idea was met with disapproval from Finns when the mint posted images of the coin on its Instagram page. Another coin in the series sparked fury among social media users. The coin, named ‘Global security’ shows a rescue worker holding the body of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi who drowned in the Mediterranean in 2015 on his escape from Syria. To read the complete article, see:
A collection of firing sqaud coins would be a small set indeed. But killing has been referenced on coins and medals almost from the beginning, usually in terms of glorious victory in battle, rather than a depiction of the actual act. The famous EID MAR coin trumpeting the murder of Julius Ceasar by Brutus shows the dagger, not the stabbing. So are these depictions of death an honest look at events, or merely tasteless? -Editor On the World of Coins forum, Peter writes: Tasteless or an example of online tyranny? There is no doubt that the Finnish civil war took place and that civilians were shot. There is no doubt that Alan Kurdi drowned. Is it bad taste to show the consequences of political extremism and political inhospitality? Is history not one big lesson on being human? Are shocking pictures by definition bad taste? Or is a ban on shocking pictures falsifying history? I remember being shocked by a hanging shown on an Indian coin, but not to the point where I called for a withdrawal of the coin. The issue is complicated. I would argue that it is far too complicated for a populist court on the internet. To read the complete discussion, see:
 Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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