Danish currency history
The Danish currency history begins over 1000 years ago with the minting of the first coins. Already in the early modern period, coins with the denomination “Krone” were minted, but mostly currencies based on North German models were issued: Rigsdaler corresponding to the thaler or Danish marck corresponding to the Lübische Mark . In 1875 the still valid Danish krone was introduced.
Due to the dynastic connection with Norway (see Norwegian monetary system ) and the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein - partly also with Sweden and Oldenburg - there are significant monetary-historical relationships that extend beyond what is now Denmark.
Medieval and early modern silver money
The oldest Danish silver coin dates from 995 and bears the image of the Danish king Svend Tveskæg and the name of his country. In the town of Lund , which at that time belonged to Denmark, the first regulated minting of coins took place under the then Anglo-Scandinavian King Canute the Great . At that time, coins also served as a means of mass communication with which the head of state demonstrated his sovereignty. Since then, Danish kings have stamped their names and portraits on the coins.
The coin system in Denmark was based on the value of the precious metal silver . At that time it was common practice to mint Kurantgeld , the nominal value of which corresponded to the intrinsic metal value. An official coin standard was used to determine how many coins of a certain type could be minted from a precisely defined amount of high-quality precious metal. In the late Middle Ages, however, the Danish state gradually reduced the silver content of the coins ( coin deterioration ) to make it easier to finance its expenses , without adjusting the face value of the coins. Queen Margaret I ordered the restoration of the silver standard in 1397 . Regardless of this, the metal value of the coins was repeatedly reduced, which led to the exchange of a large part of the inferior Danish coins for foreign ones. During the reign of Christian III. coinage was reformed again in 1541. The value of the coins was fixed and the minting was relocated to Copenhagen , where coins were minted in local monasteries until the early 17th century.
Knut the Great had mint masters from what is now England come to Denmark in the 11th century. These brought the English currency system with them to Denmark. The English currency system was based on the medieval, Carolingian system (see Karlspfund ). During his reign as the Danish king (1396–1439), Erik von Pomerania introduced the Lübsche Mark as the unit of account at 16 Schilling = 192 Pfennig (penning) . There were also Swedish influences. Silver coins denominated in Marck Danske have been minted since 1529 . With the advent of the thaler currency , thalers ("Rigsdaler") were also minted in Denmark.
In 1619 the kroon was introduced as the new currency unit. One crown was worth 1½ good Danish Reichstaler (Rigsdaler Species) and was divided into 96 Kroneskillinger. At the end of the 18th century, a Krone 8 Danish Marck was valid.
Introduction of banknotes, crises in the 18th century
Between 1713 and 1728, the time of the Great Northern War , the banknotes were introduced . First 120,000 banknotes were printed. After the conflict ended, the banknotes were withdrawn from circulation.
In 1736 the first Danish-Norwegian bank was founded as a private central bank under the name “ Den Københavnske Assignations-, Veksel- og Lånebank ”, also known as Kurantbank . This had the sole right to print and issue banknotes. While the bank initially only issued small volumes of banknotes, the issue increased significantly in the 1740s. In 1745 the bank was temporarily relieved of its obligation to exchange the banknotes for full-value silver money. When Friedrich V took office , the bank was prompted to give extensive loans to the state and to massively expand banknote issuance to finance the state. In 1757, the obligation to redeem in silver was finally dropped. To compensate, the state introduced a compulsory acceptance of banknotes of Kurantbank and made this Kurantrigsdaler for legal tender . In 1773 the bank was nationalized. The banknotes in circulation continued to grow from 5 million thalers in 1773 to 15 million thalers in 1790. Due to increasing doubts about their intrinsic value, the Kurantbank banknotes were viewed as paper money and traded with an increasing discount compared to payment in full- value silver coins ( speciesthalers ) .
In February 1788, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein , the rule of Pinneberg and the county of Rantzau left the currency union with the Danish core state. A separate species coin is introduced based on the traditional coinage of the Reichstaler (9¼-Taler-Münzfuß). One species is divided into 60 Schilling Schleswig-Holsteinisch Courant . In addition, the Schleswig-Holsteinische Speciesbank is founded in Altona. The bank accepted cash deposits, should issue small loans and issue its own banknotes.
In 1791 the Danish and Norwegian Speciesbank was founded. The issuance of banknotes was initially limited to a maximum of 220% of the paid-in cash coins; private individuals were only obliged to accept the exchange of notes issued for full-value silver coins. The notes issued by the Danish and Norwegian Speciesbanks were intended to replace the notes of the Kurantbank. The existing Kurantbank had the task of exchanging and destroying 750,000 Rigsdaler of their old paper money annually (estimated original stock: 16 million). Due to the decreasing number of Kurantnotes and the continued acceptance obligation, there was a significant recovery in prices compared to the banknotes of the Danish and Norwegian Speciesbanks, which in turn were subject to a strong decline in value.
To alleviate the consequences of the European trade crisis of 1799, a depository was set up to issue secured loans to trading companies. Payments were made with specially marked Kurantbank banknotes.
During the Napoleonic Wars , Denmark clashed with Great Britain several times, with great losses. From 1806 the government used the Kurantbank banknotes, which were now unsecured through the deposit box, to finance war-related expenses. The increased surrender of paper money in 1807 initially led to a collapse in the external value of banknotes, then domestically to a no longer controlled inflation . Inflation increased and culminated in a period of great instability. While the state had issued notes for 26 million Rigsdaler in 1807, the circulation rose to 142 million by 1812. The price of paper money fell dramatically.
National bankruptcy in 1813: Rigsbankdaler
As a result of the Danish bankruptcy in January 1813, a currency cut became necessary. The Kurantbank banknotes were exchanged at a ratio of six to one for banknotes denominated in Rigsbankdaler from the newly established Danish Reichsbank (Rigsbank) . Existing debts (including Danish government bonds) and balances were converted in the same ratio. The original right to pay out 6 full Rigsdalers embossed in silver became a - initially only theoretical - right to pay out one Rigsbankdaler in silver. A Rigsbankdaler, on the other hand, only had the silver content of 30 Schillingen schleswig-Holsteinisch Courant or 5/8 old Rigsdalers. This results in an overall devaluation of the Danish paper money issued before the national bankruptcy of almost 90%. The banknotes denominated in Species or Schilling Schleswig-Holsteinisch Courant were also heavily devalued, since the silver stock of the Altona Species and Exchange Bank had been withdrawn by the Danish state in breach of the currency constitution.
In fact, in the first years after 1813, the banknotes of the Rigsbank could not be exchanged for silver at the Rigsbank. The notes were only covered by a compulsory tax of 6% on real estate assets in the entire Danish state. In order to enforce the function of the Rigsbankdaler banknotes as the sole means of payment, the deposit box as well as the Danish-Norwegian and Schleswig-Holsteinische Speciesbank were abolished. The value of paper money of the new currency against a silver standard reached its minimum of 9% in September 1813 and fluctuated strongly in the years to come.
Rigsdaler RM (1854 to 1873)
In 1854 , the Danish King Frederick VII had the currency renamed Rigsdaler RM (for Rigsmønt ) and the Rigsbankskillinge changed its name to Skillinge RM without any changes in value
Rigsbankskilling became Skilling Rigsmønt in 1854
The Rigsbanksdaler was followed by the Riksdaler Rigsmønt (also in Specie )
Coin for 2 riksdalers from 1868
Danish Krone (since 1873)
In 1873 a new coin law was passed, which introduced the Danish krone to 100 ore and came into force on January 1, 1875. Two Danish kroner were spent on a Rigsdaler.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Nationalbanken - Historical snapshots ( Memento from June 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) www.nationalbanken.dk, accessed on: April 26, 2010
- ↑ Pierer's Universal Lexikon, Volume 4. Altenburg 1858, pp. 687-696. online , accessed September 17, 2013
- ^ Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon, Volume 11. Leipzig 1907, p. 732 ( available online ); Retrieved October 29, 2013
- ↑ Global Financial Data . Global Financial Data. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
- ↑ a b c Currencies: Danish Krone www.finanzinform.de, accessed on: April 26, 2010
- ↑ Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung, Jg. 1791, Vol. 4, No. 317, pp. 422f; available online , accessed August 15, 2013
- ↑ a b c d e f Johan Friderich Wilhelm Schlegel: State law of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg, with constant consideration of the older constitution of these countries. Royal Deaf Mute Institute, 1829, p. 477ff.
- ^ Albert Pick: Papiergeld, 1967, p. 269
- ↑ Werner Pfeiffer: The history of money in Schleswig-Holstein. Westholsteinische Verlagsanstalt Boyens & Co., Heide in Holstein 1977, p. 69.
