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VOLUME 4 / JUNE 2017 Finnish Coin Series Removed Social Media by Order of Ministry in a Crisis Social media is considered a great way to get as close to the customers as possible. The problem is that not all customers are nice people. The opposite is true. Many a whinger is only happy when he can vent his anger. Raising his voice and attracting attention, he is thus taken more serious than somebody who uses balanced words to express a well- founded opinion. While a private company can decide for itself how to deal with criticism on the internet, mints always have to consider a third party: politics. Although, in theory, the mint operates as an independent The Finnish National Day is 6 December, The initial coin was scheduled to be company, its products are associated with when the entire country celebrates its released on 4 May 2017. The other four the state. And so some politicians become independence. During the 1917 October coins were planned to become available nervous when they feel attacked indirectly Revolution, the Finnish Senate declared between 2017 and 2019. through the mint. This is precisely what happened to its independence from Russia, which The designer was approved by the Soviet Russian Mint of Finland. When it published the In a tender competition, arranged by government a few weeks later. Since commemorative coin series ‘Decades of the separately-appointed collector coin 1919, Independence Day has been Independence’ on Instagram on 24 April committee, the internationally-renowned solemnised every year in both private 2017, many Finns posted their responses. and multiple award-winning architect and and public life. This day is an important Not all of these were negative. designer Ilkka Suppanen was chosen as Finnish public holiday, which will receive And yet these comments prompted the designer. Among his customers are Nokia special attention in 2017, as it marks the Finnish Minister of Finance – within three and Saab. 100th anniversary. hours and on his own authority – to initiate His works of art already form part of the Within the framework of the festivities the process necessary to repeal the permanent exhibition of various museums planned for this occasion, Mint of decree on the production of the collector of modern or applied arts, such as the Finland had planned to issue a series coin series. This was a political decision, Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and of commemorative coins entitled ‘The not an economic one. the Museum of Applied Arts in Cologne. Decades of Independence’. This series So all the carful work and thoughts The New York MoMA has devoted an was intended to consist of five coins with specialists invested in this coin series fell exhibition to him. a face value of €5, to recall five periods prey to a handful of whingers and the that shaped Finnish history. Suppanen’s idea was to look at Finnish gut instincts of a politician. That’s kind of history from two different angles. He did With 4,000 specimens in proof quality demotivating, isn’t it? not want to merely call the glorious past to and another 15,000 in uncirculated, the mind, but rather use one side of the coin Ursula Kampmann, Editor mintage was comparatively low. Of the to emphasise the achievements, as well as popular ‘Presidents of Finland’ series, also – on the other side – the challenges and with a face value of €5, currently 6,000 difficulties of the relevant era. proof pieces and 30,000 uncirculated pieces are being issued. Continued on page 4 > www.currency-news.com Detecting Fake Finnish Coin Series (Continued) Focusing on 1917-1939, the planned scene and the scene with the dead boy in Collectors’ first release therefore features a death a prominent position. Another one showed squad, as had occurred in the Civil War the coin side with the firing squad in detail. Coins in the aftermath of the Declaration of Around noon of 25 April 2017, a Independence. Well-known numismatic journalist discussion about the coin imagery started Beth Deisher has been elected The design is based on a contemporary on social media. Not all expressions were President of the US-based ICTA’s photo. The other side depicts an important negative. The new coin motif also received Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force, achievement in the era’s architecture, the ‘likes’ as well. which will work on solutions to fake Helsinki Olympic Stadium, completed in The comments, on the other hand, collectors’ coins. She will supervise 1938. were rather negative. They ranged from eight different work groups focusing According to Mint of Finland’s press ‘shocking shit’ to ‘shot their own people? as follows: release of 25 April 2017, Suppanen A dead refugee child stranded on the Law enforcement liaison: identify areas elaborated on this motif: ‘the collector beach? 100 years Finland, a great party!’, of cooperation and develop working coin is not a celebration of the civil war, to relatively balanced contributions such relationships with federal, state, and but highlights the fact that Finland pulled as ‘the brutalities of the civil war seem to local law enforcement agencies; through this difficult period. I chose the be one aspect of the difficulties of this era. civil war as the motif for the obverse side The purpose is probably good, but the Expert networks: identify and develop of the first coin in the series because it execution is very problematic.’ teams of experts in various areas of tells about the most significant challenge the US who can identify counterfeits The indignation quickly spread to other during the period 1917-1939, and how for law enforcement agencies and act media, and reader comments flooded the the country recovered from that challenge. as expert witnesses to testify in court online magazines. In the social networks, The collector coin is based on a proceedings; alternative coin motifs circulated which photograph in the Labour Archives, which further increased and caricatured what Education: develop curriculum, I think tells most clearly about the nature people had considered to be tasteless. workshops, and seminars to assist of the civil war.’ in educating law enforcement In the afternoon, Minister of Finance, Petteri professionals about counterfeit coins The Finnish Civil War Orpo apologised to the public and said and paper money in the marketplace; The Finnish Civil War, which took place that he hoped that the coins would not be from 27 January-5 May 1918, left a society issued. The only detailed English publication Research: assist law enforcement that was deeply divided. The conservative on this comes from the internet version by identifying methods of entry and forces, backed by the Germans, had of rt news, which quoted the minister as distribution networks of counterfeit triumphed over the labour movement follows: ‘to my astonishment I discovered coins and paper money in the US; militarised by the events in Russia. As a that the Mint of Finland had designed Packaging security: develop direct result, the social democratic politicians commemorative coins, on which there is channels of communication for law remained excluded from the government for what I see as a very tasteless picture. I enforcement to be able to identify almost two decades, until 1937. don’t understand how it matches the spirit counterfeit third-party coin and paper During the war, acts of violence were of Finland’s 100th anniversary– in any way money holders, fake certificates, and carried out, known today as Red and at all. I actually hope that this coin will be product packaging of various federal White Terror: 7,370 members of the labour withdrawn.’ and private mints; movement were executed, 11,652 died of At 16.08, Petteri Orpo announced that he Transport and storage security: famine and pestilence in internment camps, had initiated a process to repeal the Decree identify and develop best practice and 1,767 are still officially posted as on the Decades of Independence Collector standards to prevent the infiltration of missing. Among the conservatives, 1,424 Coin Series, which means that the planned counterfeit coin and bullion products people fell victim to the cleansings. coins cannot be issued. into commercial transport and Considering that in 1910 Finland had a Following the media furore, it had taken the storage facilities; population of less than 3 million, more Ministry of Finance about three hours to Laws and regulations: review and than 1% of the entire population lost their take action. According to the Finnish media, identify changes needed in current life in less than a year. This constitutes when making the decision all by himself local, state, and federal laws and a trauma that seems to be still latently the Minister had not even contacted the regulations regarding the manufacture, present in the society. president of the committee responsible for possession, and buying and selling of choosing this design. counterfeit coins and paper money. A mirror of our time? On the same day, 25 April 2017, Mint of Also, review and identify changes Another motif that caused a stir among Finland published on its website a press needed to prohibit the use of fake the public featured on the last planned release on the ministerial decision with the certificates and packaging and the coin, with which Ilkka Suppanen aimed at headline ‘Mint of Finland regrets the bad marketing of such items, including capturing our times. Suppanen used as his feeling caused by images on its collector advertising practices in print and inspiration a photograph taken by Nilüfer coins series.’ Two weeks later, the Mint online offerings; Kandirmis Demir, which shows the dead body of Alan Kurdi. The drowned three- had deleted the relevant Instagram posting. Finance and fundraising: develop year-old boy had been swept to the shore Images of the planned series are no longer annual task force budget. Develop available for publication. and implement fund-raising campaign near Bodrum in September 2015. to generate sufficient funding to His photo had sparked global discussions Minister of Finance, Petteri Orpo support the work of the task force. about what press photographs may do to Petteri Orpo has been Finland's Minister jolt the public, and what not. of Finance since June 2016. Since 2007, he has been a member of the Parliament Chronology of an outrage of Finland and has already served as On 24 April 2017, Mint of Finland published Minister of Agriculture and Forestry as well two photos on Instagram: one showed all as Minister of the Interior. As Minister of five coins of the series, with the shooting 2 MINT NEWS QUARTERLY VOLUME 3 | JUNE 2017 Finance, he took over from his predecessor, designing process, long before the launch Interpretations Alexander Stubb, after the coup vote, with of the coin series took place. By now, the rapid intervention of Minister which he asserted himself against Stubb Although Mint of Finland operates as an Petteri Orpo is considered censorship as the new leader of the National Coalition independent company, it is closely linked by liberal media. Helsingin Sanomat, Party (Kok). to the Finnish government. First, all shares Finland’s most influential newspaper, The National Coalition Party was founded are state-owned. Second, Mint of Finland published a detailed comment on 27 by monarchists in 1918 and is thus one of has a legal monopoly on the minting of all April 2017: ‘It is time to put an end to the the victors in the Finnish Civil War. Today, it commemorative and circulating coins. stoning of Ilkka Suppanen, the designer propagates liberal ideas, for instance the free To realise the commemorative coins of the Finnish 100th anniversary coins. market economy and the European Union. marking the 100th anniversary of He is a victim and not a culprit. Minister The approval process for Finnish independence, a committee was of Finance Petteri Orpo’s (Kok) decision commemorative coins established, its members having been to ban the commemorative coin series and to withdraw it from sale infringes the It is surprising that Orpo expressed surprise appointed by the Ministry of Finance. They designer’s artistic expression. He has been at the coin motifs. After all, the Decree include representatives from the Ministry subjected to state censorship. Sounds on the release of these coins bears his along with the Bank of Finland, Mint of like a sanction, which is usually used only signature. In a press release, he provides an Finland, the ‘Finland 100 project’ team, in dictatorial states. The censorship of explanation: ‘I did not pay enough attention as well as from Aalto University and the Ilkka Suppanen is another visible blow to to the visual design of the regulation, but I Ateneum Art Museum. Finland’s reputation as a model of freedom was confident about the commemorative The committee jointly draws up the of expression.’ board proposal. I apologise for the incident. proposals, without having any decision- This regulation is repealed and the whole is making authority. It had organised a tender With this article, the focus of the question reconsidered.’ for the design of the commemorative coin has shifted: did the coin images constitute the scandal, or was it the fact that the In fact, extensive measures have been which Ilkka Suppanen won. The committee Minister of Finance, without consultation, taken in Finland to ensure that the coin proposed Ilkka Suppanen’s designs to revoked his approval in just three hours? motifs meets the highest artistic standards the Ministry of Finance. It was only after and the will of the Ministry of Finance. the Ministry of Finance’s approval that the Actually, the Ministry of Finance could preparations for the coinage were realised. have intervened in several steps in the coin Though not a single coin was minted.
Instagram– Image Platform for Mints By Björn Schöpe The opposition to the planned Finnish How to start Mints become present commemorative coin series began when Instagram is used through a free app for Many mints have already discovered Instagram users started to post negative smartphones. After the installation, you Instagram: the British Royal Mint, Royal comments on the two coin designs Mint create a profile. Then you can upload Canadian Mint, The Perth Mint, US Mint, of Finland had published. For all those photos or videos from your smartphone Berlin State Mint, and Mint of Finland, to who are not constantly surfing the web, to your profile right away. There are name just a few. here is a summary of what this platform sophisticated filters which also enable non- To find a company, you have to search for offers and who uses it. expert photographers to give their images a it. Therefore, the name of the profile should professional look. be clearly identifiable as being an official How to search and be found profile of a mint. To allow other users to find your photos or Attract with extras videos, you can add a comment to your If you do not want to get lost in Instagram’s pictures, a short text that includes hashtags flood of pictures, you will need not just (keywords). Everybody searching well-chosen hashtags, but also meaningful through a hashtag will get all the images images. On Instagram, mints present their linked to it in a chronological sequence. new coins in front of thematically related Thus, it is very important to upload new subjects in the city, for instance. content on a regular basis. As extras that are not available anywhere You can order your photos in your profile by else, users may be shown previous theme in so-called ‘collections’. designs or images from the production As in other social media platforms, viewers process. Photos of events, exhibitions, new can ‘like’ photos and videos, comment on production facilities or employees can also and share these. If you do not want to lose attract attention on Instagram. Instagram is a social media platform for sight of a profile, you can subscribe to it, Since July 2016, Instagram has offered sharing photos and videos, with nearly ‘follow’ it. business accounts with professional 700 million active users in April 2017. marketing opportunities. Commercial users Because of its great reach and ease of use, can view specific statistics and create Instagram is not only interesting for private advertisements in the app. people, but also for companies.
MINT NEWS QUARTERLY VOLUME 3 | JUNE 2017 3 Communication in the Midst of a Crisis Well-founded Q: Can you give us a brief summary of what an ordinary amount of criticism, I can’t say. reflections over a happens during a typical firestorm? Plus, if the negative comments were only period of months, A: In a very short time, a lot of negative focusing on the coin’s motifs, the element which constitute comments, valuations or other responses of non-specific criticism would be missing. the basis of every to a particular topic or person are being Q: If the Minister hadn’t pronounced his coin design, have published – usually on their social media decision so rapidly, what could have been been shelved in the page, for example on a Facebook page the best way for Mint of Finland to deal with case of the Finnish or an Instagram account. The criticism is its critics? commemorative coin often unspecific to the effect that varying Social media users expect authenticity as a result of a wave of public emotional A: problems are denounced in a firestorm. and transparency. On these platforms they outburst. What happens when a firestorm Why does it happen so fast on social feel as if they are ‘among friends’. So, any is forming? And what can you do about Q: media? community manager should also have it? We asked an expert – Tobias R Keller, a feeling for the language and the users who has a doctorate in communication A: While in a bar such negative comments of a platform – and, ideally, guess which sciences from the University of Zurich’s don’t reach very far, on the internet and, messages might cause turmoil. The idea of IPMZ and who teaches and researches, above all, in social media a lot of people showing both sides of 100 years of history with a focus on social media. are writing at the same time, with large networks of friends. These negative on the coins did not meet the expectations messages spread to all their contacts who of all the people on Instagram and has in turn react to these news – often also in therefore offended. a negative manner. Recent research has However, there could have been a dialogue shown that very emotional postings cause a on the subjects on social media – between great many reactions. the users, the committee and the artist, at Q: If you compare this with what happened best. Although the critics may have raised in Finland, has Mint of Finland experienced their voices after all, it could have been a firestorm? possible to present to pros and cons in an orderly framework. A: Since I’ve learned about this only after Publisher: Currency Publications Ltd the incident took place and hence don’t Q: What measures would you recommend in association with Monea. know the exact negative comments and the to better involve politics? Editor: subsequent reporting, it’s difficult to pin it A: On social media, communication takes Dr Ursula Kampmann down with certainty. place in the public eye most of the time. (left) On the other hand, the subject is so Thus, possible conflicts between the Translator: charged with emotions, a lot of criticism different public actors should be taken into Dr Annika Backe was expressed rather quickly. This is typical account in advance. of a firestorm. Whether or not it was simply
Mint News Quarterly™ is produced every three months and only distributed with Currency News™. New Director for French Mint 10 Windmill Business Village, The French mint, Delanoë, coordinating relations with the Brooklands Close, Sunbury, La Monnaie de various arrondissements and supervising TW16 7DY, UK Paris, has a new the staff department. He was also involved Director General, in school reforms and, as Secrétaire www.currency-news.com Aurélien Rousseau. Général Adjoint de la Ville de Paris, His predecessor, supervised the completion of a large- Christophe Beaux, scale project in 2014, when Paris grouped PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH MONEA stepped down from together with 130 communes to form the his position at the administrative structure ‘Métropole du end of March after two terms. Rousseau Grand Paris’. No part of this publication may be reproduced, previously acted as Provisional Director. In October 2015, Rousseau joined Prime stored in a retrieval system or translated in any Aurélien Rousseau was born in 1976 and Minister Manuel Valls’ cabinet, advising form or by any means– electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise– without completed the elite university ENA with a on social policy, among others. Apart the prior permission of the copyright holders. doctorate. He then taught history and also from labour law issues, he coordinated The copyright is owned by the author. If no held various functions in administration and cooperation between various sectors author is mentioned the copyright is with Dr. Ursula Kampmann. politics. From 2001-2006, he worked in the including health, culture, education,
COPYRIGHT 2016. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED city administration of the French capital. In integration, and agriculture. He was kept 2009, he joined the Conseil d’État, France’s on in that role by Valls’ successor, Bernard Sponsors supreme administrative court and, at the Cazeneuve, in December 2016. same time, a consultative body of the Aurélien Rousseau has also written two government. He also taught at Sciences Po plays and a novel, is a Chevalier des and Université Paris 1. Palmes Académiques, has been awarded In 2012, he became a member of the the Mérite Agricole and is an Officier des cabinet of the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Arts et des Lettres.
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