The euro (EUR or €) banknote series comprises seven different values: €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200 and €500. The euro was formally established as a unit of exchange on 1 January 1999. On January 1st, 2002, twelve of the fifteen European Union members completed their conversion to using the Euro instead of their own national currencies. These can be used anywhere within the euro area, regardless of country of issue.
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The Finnish markka was the currency of Finland from 1860. The markka was introduced by the Bank of Finland. The name “markka” was based on a medieval unit of weight. Both “markka” and “penni” are loanwords based on the same roots as the German Mark and pfennig. Since 1 January 2002, Finnish markka ceased to be legal tender and had been replaced by the euro (€). The currency code used for the markka was FIM, and the usual familiar notation was the postfix mk. It was divided into 100 penniä (Finnish). Read the rest of this entry »