Kasper Elminen’s (1889–1971) collection of gold coins

Collection

The collection of gold coins of Juho Kasper ‘Kasperi’ Elminen (1889–1971), born in Vyborg, is exceptionally extensive for a collection by a private person, and is also noteworthy on an international scale. The collection comprises a total of 735 different gold coins from different parts of the world, and the total weight of the collection is approximately five kilogrammes. The collection was built systematically to include at least one gold coin of every ruler. As regards coins of the modern era, the aim also was to include all possible denominations minted in gold from the same ruler. For example, in the case of Oscar II, who ruled Norway from 1872 to 1905, the collection includes not only the 20-kroner gold coin (1898), but also the 10-kroner (1901) and 5-kroner (1901). In addition to this, for example, the Swedish occupation coins in the collection include ducats of Gustav II Adolf from several different mints, such as those of Würzburg (1631), Erfurt (1634), Nuremberg (1632) and Augsburg (1634). The collection philosophy follows the principle of ‘one of each type’, that is, it is a type collection, and it does not focus on collecting different variants, for example. The type collection makes it possible to examine the development of monetary systems in the long term, from antiquity to the 20th century. The collection also includes a few counterfeits, such as a copper antoninianus of Postumus, who ruled the Gallic Empire from 260 to 269, which is in fact only a gold-plated copper coin (RK2002064b:503).

Special characteristics of gold coins

In the past, gold coins served as the flagship of each monetary system so, due to their special status, they differ in some respects from the other coins in the monetary systems. Gold coins often played a key role in international trade, so particular attention was always paid to what they communicated to other nations when minting them.

It is typical of the Western monetary systems that low-value copper coins do not carry the portrait of the ruler at all, as copper coins – especially small ones – were not seen in the past as a suitable medium for carrying the portrait of the ruler. Of course, there is also an exception to this because, in the Roman Empire, with the silver coin inflation by the middle of the third century, the silver content in silver coins was reduced to next to nothing and the majority of the coins were in fact only silver-plated copper coins. In addition, the silver plating on the majority of these coins was so minimal that it wore off in circulation. By the fourth century, virtually all copper coins had a portrait of the ruler, but even then the coins were in most cases originally silver-plated. When looking at recorded history, in Sweden, for example, it was not until 1832 that the portrait of the ruler was shown on copper coins for the first time, while the first official copper coins were minted in Sweden as far back as in 1624. It is typical of gold coins, as the most valuable coins in the monetary systems, that the rulers were often portrayed with the most care and often even in a way that differs from, for example, the typical side profiles of the rulers seen on silver coins. On gold coins, however, the ruler could be exceptionally portrayed, for example, as seen from the front instead of the side profile (see for example RK2002064b:504).

It was also necessary to pay more attention to the minting of gold coins due to the high value of gold as the production material of coins. In antiquity, coins were minted either by carefully checking the weight of individual planchets before minting (al pezzo, ‘by piece’ in Italian) or by making sure that a specific number of coins were minted from a specific amount of the raw material (al marco, ‘by weight’ in Italian). As the most valuable coins in the monetary system, gold coins were most often minted al pezzo, that is, the weight of each planchet was checked before minting. However, this changed in the fourth century, when the number of minted gold coins increased, especially after Constantine the Great, and one can see the text ‘CONOB’ (Constantinopoli obryzum) on the back of many late Roman and Byzantine gold solidi, in which the ‘OB’ is an abbreviation of obryzum meaning pure gold, but at the same time also the Greek numeral 72. The solidi were, in fact, pure gold and 72 coins were minted from the Roman pound (libra in Latin, 327.45 grammes), which means that, as a result of the high volumes, for example, the solidi were minted al marco.

Collector

Kasper Elminen was a dental technician by profession. He founded a dental laboratory in Vyborg in 1918, which manufactured various dentures. The company grew year after year and moved to Kotka as a result of the war. According to a newspaper advertisement, however, even the outbreak of the Winter War in late 1939 did not immediately interrupt the company operations in Vyborg. Kasper Elminen acted as the director and owner of his laboratory. The President of the Republic, Juho Kusti Paasikivi granted him the honorary title of ‘Talousneuvos’ on 23 September 1949 (Aho 2016: 217).

Based on the Historical Newspaper Library, Elminen is known to have been an active civil society actor, who was a long-standing and active member of the South Karelia Youth Association and received recognition for his work for sports and gymnastics and the Civil Guard. In 1937, he was appointed as Honorary President of the Vyborg Cyclists, so he seems to have been involved in many things. The 50th anniversary of Kasper Elminen was duly noted both in the Suomen Kuvalehti magazine and in a birthday tribute in the Hakkapeliitta magazine. The Äänenkannattaja magazine (1 October 1939) published a full-page feature article on him to celebrate his birthday. In addition, he was a member of the Finnish Red Cross for almost 50 years.

Not a word is mentioned in the newspapers about Elminen’s hobby of collecting gold coins. The collection apparently originated from his work as a dental technician, when dentists acting as his customers supplied him with old gold coins for making gold teeth. While working on these, he apparently got the idea to start collecting different gold coins systematically. However, it is unclear at what point in his life he started collecting gold coins. What we do know, is that he did not became a member of the Finnish Numismatic Society, founded in 1914, until 1950, and stated in his membership application that his collection focused on gold coins of the world. It is very possible that, as a dental technician, he put aside different gold coins that he found interesting over the decades, but only started collecting them in a numismatic sense after retiring. This assumption is also supported by the fact that he is known to have acquired the aureus of the Roman Trajanus Decius (ruled from 249 to 251) for his collection in London on 14 January 1953 at a numismatic auction held by Glendining & Co. Ltd and selling the famous numismatic collection of J. C. S. Rashleigh. Later in his life, he was still enthusiastically involved in founding the Southern Kymenlaakso Numismatist Society in 1970, and he was appointed the society’s first honorary member.

In 1966, Elminen sold his gold coin collection to the Säästöpankkien Keskus-Osake-Pankki (SKOP) bank, which – like many other banks at the time – had its own numismatic collection. The gold coin collection went on public display for the first time on 18 September 1972 at the head office of SKOP in Helsinki, Aleksanterinkatu 46. Later, it toured Finland in the local offices of the bank. After the later bankruptcy of SKOP, the bank’s collections, including Elminen’s gold coins, became the property of the State of Finland in 2002, and they were incorporated into the collections of the National Museum of Finland. The majority of Elminen’s collection can now be seen on the Finna online service: "RK2002064b" | Search results | Finna.fi

Text: Jani Oravisjärvi

Research literature

Aho, Seppo. Vuoden 1918 ja valtionhoitajan sekä tasavallan presidenttien 1918–2005 myöntämät arvonimet arvonimikohtaisessa aakkosjärjestyksessä. Alavus, 2006.

SKOP’s collection of gold coins. Numismaatikko 5/1973. pp. 24–25.

Talousneuvos Juho Kasper Elminen (obituary). Numismaatikko 1/1972. p. 13.