In honour of the 150th anniversary of the Finnish stamp, a miniature sheet will be issued on 27 October in scintillating red, blue and gold, on the theme of the lion coat of arms of Finland on Finnish stamps. The miniature sheet includes three stamps with values ˆ0.70, ˆ1.40 and ˆ0.95. The jubilee sheet was designed by Paivi Vainionpaa and it will be printed in a run of 220,000. In addition to these, a special numbered edition of 3,000 will be made of the jubilee item, with the lion printed in genuine 22-karat gold.
The lion coat of arms is a vital part of the history of the Finnish stamp: with a few brief exceptions, it has always been the picture on the definitive stamp. A number of designers have contributed their own versions of the stamp. The designer of the jubilee sheet, Paivi Vainionpaa, aimed to bring together a time-honoured heritage and state-of-the-art technology: she has used on the jubilee sheet both old lion stamp originals and modern-day refinements of specialist printing technology.
