Start of period of illumination. In Finland, the year 1863 marked a start for genuine democracy, transparent press operations and the right to use the Finnish language.

With the beginning of regular meetings of the Diet, the opportunities of Finns to influence affairs in their own country improved in an unprecedented way. The year marked the beginning of a period of illumination for Finnish democracy. To celebrate this, a gold coin has been minted featuring a crown and an opening curtain representing the power of the Emperor of Russia on the reverse side and a section mark on the obverse side representing the beginning of democracy.