Posti will honor the memory of President Mauno Koivisto by publishing a mourning stamp on June 9, 2017.
The illustration in the blue-shaded stamp features President Koivisto and the Grand Cross, with Collar, of the Order of the White Rose of Finland. The stamp also has Koivisto's signature and his years of birth and death. The sheet contains ten domestic no-value indicator stamps. The number of prints will be 1,000,000. The stamp was designed by Timo Berry. The photos used in the stamp were taken by Kari Santala (Skoy, Lehtikuva).
The stamp will be accompanied by a first day cover and cachet. The cover has Koivisto's coat of arms, which has the text "in memoriam" and "to the benefit of the nation" above it. Koivisto's dates of birth and death, signature and the text "president" appear beneath the coat of arms.
The stamp sheet can be ordered from Posti online shop. The order will be delivered on June 9 - on the same day as the stamp will be available in Posti shops and well-furnished Postal Agency Shops.
The first-day event will be arranged at Helsinki Main Post Office (address Elielinaukio 2, 00100 HELSINKI) on June 9 at 12 noon-3 p.m. In addition to the stamp, empty first day covers will be on sale at the event, of which everyone can customize a package they want. Posti will deliver the stamp and a first day cover with a franked stamp in connection with the delivery of the stamps to be published on September 6.
President Mauno Koivisto died at the age of 93 in Helsinki on May 12. He was born in Turku on November 25, 1923. He was the President of the Republic of Finland for 12 years from 1982 until 1994. He has also appeared on stamps in 1983 and 1993.
A mourning stamp was last published in Finland in memory of President Urho Kekkonen in 1986. Mourning stamps have also been published in memory of runner Paavo Nurmi, composer Jean Sibelius and Presidents P.E. Svinhufvud and Kyösti Kallio.
All stamps available for sale are featured in Posti's online shop: www.posti.fi/goshopping.
