Silver plated.
Mintage only 125 pcs
Fantasy coinage. Not in circulation.
Hanko (Gangut, Fin. Hanko) is a peninsula on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, the southernmost part of mainland Finland. Hanko has a long history of wars and battles. The Battle of Gangut between the Swedish and Russian fleets took place in 1714 in the archipelago north of the peninsula. This battle was the first ever victory of the Russian regular fleet. Fortification work on the Hanko peninsula began already at the end of the 18th century, when the Swedes built three separate forts on the outlying islands. The forts were captured by Russia in 1809 and later bombarded by the Royal Navy and eventually blown up during the fighting by their own defenders. On September 5, peace was signed between Russia and Sweden, as a result of which Sweden ceded the Finnish territory to Russia. From 1809 to 1917, like the rest of Finland, the peninsula was part of the Russian Empire. At that time, Finnish culture rose throughout Finland, schools were opened that taught in their native language, literature was printed, and Finnish acquired the status of a state language. The October Revolution of 1917, which overthrew the Provisional Government, allowed the Finnish Senate on December 4, 1917 to sign the Declaration of Independence of Finland. Thus, the Republic of Finland was proclaimed. In March 1940, after the Winter War, the USSR received from Finland a 30-year lease on the southern part of the peninsula with the city of Hanko to create a naval base. However, the Soviet base existed until December 1941. The Soviet Union renounced its rights to lease the Hanko peninsula.