This is about coins and not a historical account on Scandanavian countries, but to enter the numismatic sphere of this premise you and I need to travel back in time to the year 1905. On the morning of June 7, 1905 the inhabitants of Norway and Sweden awoke as citizens of both countries, but by the time they readied themselves for a good night's sleep they were citizens of two separate nations. Christian Michelsen, a shipping magnate and statesman, Prime Minister of Norway from 1905 to 1907, played a central role in the peaceful separation of Norway from Sweden on 7 June 1905. Both, now independent nations, refer to that day as Independence Day. To get to our theme of 1 Anniversary - 2 Nations - 8 Coins, we now travel from 1905 to 2005, 100 years after the break-up. The 100th Anniversary of the separation. Norway issued six Proof coins commemorating the 100th Anniversary of their independence from Sweden. Three in silver and three in gold. The three Siver coins are in denominations of 100 Kronor, measure 39mm each and have a ASW of 1.0052 ounces. 65,000 of each were minted. All feature the three kings on the obverse. One (KM472) depicts a farm field on the reverse and another (KM474) bears the image of an off shore ocean oil rig on its reverse. The final silver 200 Kronor proof commemorative (KM476) displays a circuit board on its reverse. Here's a photo courtesy of The Coin Page and Norway Mint (click data below photo for opposite side view) NORWAY 2005 INDEPENDENCE COMMEMORATIVE SILVER 100 KRONOR WITH CIRCUIT BOARD REVERSE The three gold coins are in denominations of 1500 Kronor measuring 27mm, and have an AGW of .5 ounce. 10,0000 of each proof version were struck. All feature the three kings on the obverse. One (KM473) depicts various leaf types on its reverse, another (KM475) displays liquid drops on a hard surface and the final one (KM477) shows a binary language on its reverse. Here's a photo courtesy of The Coin Page and Norway Mint (click data below photo for view of opposite side). NORWAY 2005 INDEPENDENCE COMMEMORATIVE GOLD 1500 KRONOR WITH BINARY LANGUAGE REVERSE Sweden only issued two proof coins (one silver and one gold) to celebrate the Centennial of the End of the of the Union between Norway and Sweden. The silver coin (35,000 minted) is a 200 Kronor (KM906) measuring 36mm and weighing in at .8104 ounce ASW; the gold coin (5,000 minted) is a 2000 Kronor (KM907) measuring in at 26mm and weighing in at .3472 ounces AGW. Both coins feature a split disc on their obverses and a flag separating two clouds on their reverses. Photos courtesy of The Coin Page and the Riksbank, Sweden (click data below photos for view of other sides of coins): SWEDEN 2005 SILVER 200 KRONOR COMMEMORATIVE SWEDEN 2005 GOLD 2000 KRONOR COMMEMORATIVE Hope you enjoyed the trip... Clinker
Interesting topic, Clinker! And yes, Norway becoming an independent country was actually a peaceful separation ... Here are images of the Swedish coin (this is the 200 kronor silver piece) design: Reverse: http://www.riksbank.com/upload/Bilder_riksbank/Kat_sedlar_mynt1/baksida_silver_low.jpg Obverse: http://www.riksbank.com/upload/Bilder_riksbank/Kat_sedlar_mynt1/framsida_silver_low.jpg The "split disk" represents the two halves of the former union; the text next to the flagpole means "Two Nations in Agreement". That piece was designed by Annie Winblad Jakubowski; and she was also the designer of another "dissolution" commem: Four years later (in 2009), Sweden issued a 1 krona circulating commem that remembers the - not quite so peaceful - end of the Swedish-Finnish Union in 1809. Reverse: http://www.riksbank.com/upload/Bilder_riksbank/Kat_sedlar_mynt/1krona_2009/Enkronan_2009_bak_low.jpg Obverse: http://www.riksbank.com/upload/Bild...r_mynt/1krona_2009/Enkronan_2009_fram_low.jpg A little off-topic, I know. But with a mintage of at least 40 million that is a piece which people may actually come across without buying it. Christian
Again, thank you, Christian, for enhancing one of my trivia posts with important data and links to relative coinage. Clinker
