page_title: Swedish krona
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Swedish krona / Coins / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Two 20kr gold coins from the time of the Scandinavian Monetary Union. The left one is Swedish, and the right one is Danish.
context_page_description: The krona is the official currency of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it but, especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value. In English, the currency is sometimes referred to as the Swedish crown, as krona literally means "crown" in Swedish. The Swedish krona was the ninth-most traded currency in the world by value in April 2016.
  One krona is subdivided into 100 öre. However, all öre coins have been discontinued as of 30 September 2010. Goods can still be priced in öre, but all sums are rounded to the nearest krona when paying with cash. The word öre is ultimately derived from the Latin word for gold.
context_section_description: Between 1873 and 1876, coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 öre and 1, 2, 10, and 20 kronor were introduced. The 1, 2 and 5 öre were in bronze, the 10-, 25-, 50-öre and 1-krona and 2-krona were in silver, and the 10- and 20-krona were in gold. Gold 5-krona coins were added in 1881.
  In 1873 the Scandinavian Monetary Union currency was fixed so that 2,480 kronor purchased 1 kg of gold. In 2017 the price of gold is 365,289 kronor per kg. So one öre in 1873 bought as much gold as 1.47 krona in 2017. So if it is reasonable to have the smallest denomination coin 1 krona today, in 1873 a reasonable smallest denomination coin was 1 öre. A 10 kr gold coin weighed 4.4803 grams with 900 fineness so that the fine weight was 4.03327 grams or exactly 1/248th of a kilogram.
  In 1902, production of gold coins ceased, and was briefly restarted in 1920 and 1925 before ceasing entirely. Due to metal shortages during World War I, iron replaced bronze between 1917 and 1919. Nickel-bronze replaced silver in the 10, 25 and 50 öre in 1920, with silver returning in 1927.
  Metal shortages due to World War II again led to changes in the Swedish coinage. Between 1940 and 1947, the nickel-bronze 10, 25 and 50 öre were again issued. In 1942, iron again replaced bronze (until 1952) and the silver content of the other coins was reduced. In 1962, cupronickel replaced silver in the 10-öre, 25-öre and 50-öre coins.
  In 1968, the 2 kronor switched to cupronickel and the 1-krona switched to cupronickel-clad copper (it was replaced entirely by cupronickel in 1982). Nonetheless, all previous mintages of 1- and 2-krona coins were still legal tender until 2017, since 1875 and 1876, respectively, though 2-krona coins were extremely rarely seen in circulation as they have not been issued since 1971. The 2-krona coins contained 40% silver until 1966, which meant they had been for several years worth much more than two kronor, so most have been bought and melted down by arbitrageurs, and the rest are kept by collectors. A new design of 2-krona coins will be issued in 2016.
  Currently all the old krona coins are invalid since 2017, and they can not be used for payments, nor can they be exchanged for legal tender in any bank, and are instead instructed to be recycled as metal.
  In 1954, 1955 and 1971, five-krona silver coins were produced, with designs similar to contemporary 1- and 2-krona coins. In 1972, a new, smaller 5-krona coin was introduced, struck in cupronickel-clad nickel. The current design has been produced since 1976. Five-krona coins minted since 1954 are legal tender but tend to be kept by collectors for their silver content.
  In 1971, the 1- and 2-öre, as well as the 2-krona coins ceased production. The size of the 5-öre coin was reduced in 1972. In 1984, production of the five- and 25-öre coins came to an end, followed by that of the 10-öre in 1991.
  In 1991, aluminium-brass ("Nordic gold") 10-krona coins were introduced. Previous 10-krona coins are not legal tender.
  Also in 1991, bronze-coloured 50-öre coins were introduced.
  Jubilee and commemorative coins have been minted and those since 1897 or later are also legal tender.
  The royal motto of the monarch is also inscribed on many of the coins. The 5-krona coin was designed in 1974, at a time when there were political efforts to abandon the monarchy, when there was a new young inexperienced king. The monarchy remained, but the 5-krona was not given a portrait. Coins minted before 1974 have the same size, but contain the portrait of King Gustav VI Adolf and his royal motto.
  On 18 December 2008, the Riksbank announced a proposal to phase out the 50-öre, the final öre coin, by 2010. The öre would still remain a subdivision unit for electronic payments. The reason could include low purchasing power, higher production and distribution cost than the value and the coins cannot be used in most parking machines and vending machines. On 25 March 2009, the Riksdag formally decided to enact the law to repeal 50-öre coins as legal tender. Under that law, the final date payments could be made with 50-öre c
caption: Two golden 20 kr coins from the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which were based on a gold standard. The coin to the left is Swedish and the right one is Danish.
exif: {}