The Norwegian krone
Currency · NOK · kr · 1 country
Four kroner bought one speciedaler when the krone replaced Norway's old currency in 1875, the step that took Norway into the Scandinavian Monetary Union. Norges Bank holds the exclusive right to issue notes and coins under the Norges Bank Act and decides how they look. Its current banknotes, series VIII, came into circulation between 2017 and 2019.
The abbreviation
The abbreviation kr stands for krone, a word English once rendered as the Norwegian crown. Danish and Swedish money use the same two letters, so Norwegian amounts are also written NKr where they need telling apart, and the ISO code is NOK.
The same abbreviation stands for 3 other currencies, among them the Danish krone and the Icelandic króna.
- ISO code
- NOK
- ISO number
- 578
- Subunit
- øre, 1/100
An amount, written out
kr 1,234.50
- kr 1,234.50English
Where the Norwegian krone is the official currency
Norway pays in kroner. When Norges Bank replaces a series, the old notes and coins stay legal tender for one year.
About the Norwegian krone
What the Scandinavian union tied together
The Scandinavian Monetary Union dated from 1873, and Norway joined when the krone arrived two years later. The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish currencies were exchangeable at par, and within the union the krone stood on gold: 2,480 kroner to a kilogram of pure gold. A gold 20 kroner coin dated 1874 spelled out the arithmetic on its face, 124 pieces to the kilogram.
The First World War broke it. Gold convertibility was suspended in 1914, and from then on the three currencies were no longer equal to each other. Norway returned to gold from 1916 to 1920. It went back again in 1928, then left for good in 1931.
Which anchors the krone held after gold
In 1933 the krone was pegged to sterling at 19.9 kroner to the pound, and in 1939 to the US dollar at 4.4 kroner. Under German occupation from 1940 it was tied to the Reichsmark. A peg of 20 kroner to the pound followed in 1946, and when sterling was devalued in 1949 the dollar rate moved from 4.963 to 7.142 kroner.
Then came the early 1990s, when heavy speculation against the krone cost Norges Bank around two billion kroner in defensive purchases of its own currency, drawn from foreign reserves over a short period. In December 1992 the bank gave up the fixed rate. The krone has floated since.
Who prints the notes and strikes the coins
Norges Bank printed its own notes in Oslo until June 2007, when its Printing Works closed after a decision taken by the Executive Board in 2002. Since 2008 commercial security printers abroad have produced Norwegian notes, while the coins, commemorative ones included, come from the Mint of Norway in Kongsberg.
When a series is replaced, the old notes or coins stay legal tender for one year after the proclamation. For ten years after that, Norges Bank will exchange them for the new series.
Under Norwegian law a payee cannot refuse up to 25 coins of any one denomination.
What the legal tender series shows
Series VIII keeps to the sea: the Utvær lighthouse is on the 50, the Gokstad ship on the 100, a cod on the 200, the rescue vessel RS 14 Stavanger on the 500 and a wave in the open sea on the 1,000. Norges Bank introduced its first notes in 1877; coins replaced the 5 kroner note in 1963 and the 10 kroner note in 1984, and a 200 kroner note arrived in 1994.
The coins in use, of 1, 5, 10 and 20 kroner, belong to a coinage introduced between 1994 and 1998. The 10 and 20 carry the monarch's effigy, while the 1 and 5, which once had it too, now carry only royal or national symbols.
Where the øre went
The krone divides into 100 øre on paper only.
Production of the 1 and 2 øre stopped in 1972, the 5 and 25 øre followed in 1982, and the last 10 øre coins were minted in 1992. The 50 øre survived into the new coinage of the 1990s. By the time it was withdrawn, on 1 May 2012, it had stopped circulating as an ordinary payment coin. Banks went on redeeming it until 2022.
Common questions
Questions about the Norwegian krone
Are there still øre coins in Norway?
No. The krone is still divided into 100 øre in name, but the last øre coin, the 50, was withdrawn on 1 May 2012 after it had stopped circulating as an ordinary payment coin. Banks redeemed it until 2022. The coins that remain legal tender are 1, 5, 10 and 20 kroner.
Why did Syrian coins cause trouble in Norwegian machines?
The Syrian 10 pound coin is so close to the Norwegian 20 kroner coin in weight and size that vending machines, arcade machines and coins-to-cash machines could not tell them apart, and the Syrian coin was worth a small fraction of the Norwegian one. The Norwegian postal service, Posten Norge, closed many of its coins-to-cash machines on 18 February 2006 while it worked on a way to separate the two. In the summer of 2005 a man was given a suspended sentence for feeding Syrian coins into arcade machines in Bærum.
How long can withdrawn Norwegian banknotes be exchanged?
When Norges Bank replaces a note or coin with a new series, the old one stays legal tender for one year from the proclamation date. For the ten years after that, the old note or coin can be taken to one of the bank's offices or sent in by post and exchanged for the new series. Coin dealers can say whether an old piece is worth more than its face value to collectors.
What is on the Norwegian 200 kroner note?
A cod. Every note of series VIII, introduced between 2017 and 2019, takes its main motif from the sea: a lighthouse on the 50, the Gokstad ship on the 100, a rescue vessel on the 500 and a wave on the 1,000.