Ma < 3 Koidula

I wanted to take a moment to note the passing of the Estonian kroon into the annals of currency. On January 1, Estonia will become the 17th nation to adopt the Euro.

This is actually an important story in and of itself, but I want to focus on the necessary evil attached to adopting the Euro-- getting rid of the kroon.

Part of the reason for my writing lies in fond memories of my travels in Estonia, but another is that I think currency design can tell you a lot about a nation and the things that those in power value (or at the very least, feel have symbolic value). I think thoughtful currency has worth beyond its monetary value.

The front of the 100 kroon note features the 19th-century poet, dramatist, and nationalist activist Lydia Koidula, while the reverse contains a scene from Estonia's northern coast scene and :gasp: actual poetry. IMO, it's also a beautiful bill:



I suppose it takes an American to be impressed by a bluestocking on a banknote.

For the record, the other Estonian notes feature a painter, a naturalist, a chess grandmaster, a linguist and folklorist, a novelist, a composer, and another nationalist writer (all men). Most of these bills are also in colors not suitable for camouflaging tanks.

I'm not sure any of this is unusual. Many nations deem women of enough symbolic worth to place them on currency. Two of five denominations of Swedish krona banknotes feature women. Intentional or not, the last series of Deutsche Mark banknotes alternated women and men.

With a few exceptions, those bills didn't feature politicians (and there's no rule that paper money has to have people on it). Even Canada, which puts influential Prime Ministers (or Queen Elizabeth II) on the front of dollar notes, puts some sort of prose on the reverse of every note, including an excerpt from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the back of the fifty.

This brings me back to the US. According to our banknotes, my country values dead politicians, has a marble fetish and is so masculine (and insecure) that it won't be caught dead using queer/lady things like color. Yep, that's my empire. Well, I live here, at least. Oh, and the US is also unfriendly to people with disabilities. Different sizes for different denominations? Not here.

I guess there's something to be said for truth in advertising. :shrug: