Finland 2015 5€ Satakunta - Animals

The Animals of the Provinces series is the third coin series minted in honour of Finland’s historic provinces. The first collector coin launched by Mint of Finland in Satakunta in 2010 paid tribute to bobbin lace tradition, which goes back hundreds of years in Satakunta. For the Provincial buildings series, Satakunta received a coin commemorating Sammallahtimäki´s nearly forty burial cairns built as the resting place for the ancestors of the inhabitants of Satakunta.

Satakunta is one of nine historical provinces in Finland.

On the reverse side of the coin there is the historical province's coat of arms and the face value, 5 EURO.

The coin depicts the beaver.

The emblematic animal of Satakunta, the beaver, is known for its dam-construction skills. The European beaver is an ancient species that has inhabited Finland since before the last ice age. The species was nearly hunted to extinction in Finland, but the population has since been bolstered by imported individuals. The Finnish European beaver population is still limited to approximately 1,000 individuals, mostly concentrated in the region of Satakunta.

There are nine historical provinces in Finland: Åland, Tavastia, Karelia, Lapland, Ostrobothnia, Satakunta, Savo, Uusimaa and Finland Proper.