The Guild of Medallic Art in Finland was founded in 1965 as a connecting link between artists, collectors, medal issuers, museums, galleries and similar institutions, to promote medallic art in Finland.
The Guild organises competitions for artists, issues medals and organises exhibitions. It is a member of FIDEM(Fédération Internationale de la Médaille), which organises international congresses and exhibitions. The Guild also has a collection consisting mostly of modern Finnish medals. The collection is deposited in the Tampere Art Museum. The aim is to keep part of the collection permanently on display. The yearbook of medallic art has been published since 2000. It includes English summaries.
The Guild was founded because in 1965 some collectors and artists felt that there should be more non-commissioned cast medals in addition to the numerous commissioned struck portrait and commemorative medals. It started to have an annual medal competition to promote the medal making and to give medal artists possibilities to model cast medals. The Guild has also edited a series of medals on the Presidents of Finland. It has organized numerous medal exhibitions and the aim is to keep part of the collection permanently on display at the Tampere Art Museum.
