On 30 January 2015, Mint of Finland plans to release acollector coin in honour of the 150th anniversary of composer Jean Sibelius' birth. Commemorative Jean Sibelius coins will bestruck in silver, with anominal value of EUR 10, and in gold with anominal value of EUR 100. The silver Jean Sibelius coins are the first Finnish collector coins to be granted the Key Flag label of Finnish origin.
The silver Sibelius coin will be the first Finnish collector coin to be granted the Key Flag label of Finnish origin. The Association for Finnish Work has granted the Key Flag label to all silver collector coins produced by Mint of Finland. Products manufactured in Finland are eligible to bear the Key Flag.
«Mint of Finland mints all Finnish collector coins atits factory in Vantaa. Weare very glad that the Association for Finnish Work has a cnowledged Finnish collector coin production with the Key Flag issued to silver collector coins. Sibelius is of huge importance to the Finnish people, so it is fantastic that it is his coin that will bear the first Key Flags," says Mint of Finland CEO Paul Gustafsson.
The collector coin being minted is the second to be released in honour of Sibelius. The first commemorative Sibelius coin was struck in1999. Before Sibelius, only President Kekkonen and artist Tove Jansson had received two commemorative coins.
The collector coin will bear the landscape of Ainola and the composer’s favoured instrument
The design of Nora Tapper depicts the starry sky of Ainola and acopse ofpine trees, among which Sibelius was captured inmany aphotograph. The reverse bears the neck of aviolin, the composer’s favoured instrument.

«My idea was that complete silence surrounds the composer staring att he night sky. The composition born in the stillness then comes to life with the violin depicted on the reverse," says artist Nora Tapper.
The collector coin’s design represents the Collector Coin Committee’s proposal to the Ministry of Finance, and the actual coin’s details may change.
The nominal value of the silver collector coins will be EUR 10, and 150 of the coins will be numbered. The numbered silver coins will bemixed into the total mintage of 10,000 atrandom. The collector coins will bemade of Ag500/1000 silver, with adia meter of 28.5 millimetres and weight of 10 grams.
The nominal value of golden Jean Sibelius collector coins will be EUR 100, and 50 coins will be numbered. The total mintage ofthe gold collector coins will be 5,000, and the coins will bemade of Au917/1000 gold. The gold coins will have adiameter of 22 millimetres and weigh 5.65 grams.
From the release date of 30 January 2015, the collector coins will be available from Mint of Finland’s online shop and retailers. Advance orders for the collector coins will beaccepted by the Mint of Finland online shop from 7 January 2015.