Danish Coins

The first currency system in Denmark came into existence in 1625 when Rigsdaler was made the official currency of the country. It had 3 coins being mark, skilling, and pfennig with a complex exchange among them, for example, 1 rigsdaler = 6 mark, 1 mark = 16 skilling, 1 skilling = 12 pfennig. This complex rate establishment continued over quite a long period of time with some minor corrections in the meantime.

In 1873, the Scandinavian Monetary Union was established, constituting two countries: Sweden and Denmark. The purpose of this union was to re-establish the currencies of the member countries to make them equal with each other. The “krone” (meaning crown) was introduced in Denmark and became a frequently used coin in this country. The currency went into the gold standard, with a fixed exchange rate of 2480 kroner = 1 kilogram of fine quality gold.

The First World War saw the gold rate of all the currencies abolished and krone too was affected by it. The Scandinavian Monetary Union was liquidated, but Denmark decided that the krone would not be taken away. Once again, Denmark fixed its currency to the gold standard in 1924 but had to quit it permanently in 1931. The krone was attached to the German reichsmark during the German occupation from the year 1940 to 1945, but after the Second World War was over, it was attached to the British pound and US dollar. In 1999, the European common currency euro was introduced; most of the European countries opted in favor of the currency, but Denmark moved out of the Maastricht treaty so that it could protect its first and only currency.