2017-11-15 Wed

The only 50-krone note from King Oscar II will be offered by Oslo Myntgalleri’s auction on 25th November in Oslo. Unlike other notes found in the market, this one is not a specimen note. It belongs to the first series of Norwegian currency that was released. There was a need to introduce new banknotes after the kroner, and ore replaced the speciedaler and skilling in 1875.

40,900,000 such notes were issued between 1877 and 1891. They were no longer legal tender after 13th July 1998. The monarch’s portrait was featured on the obverse side of notes belonging to the first series only. The reverse depicted Viking king and the crowned royal arms. It is hand-signed Blom/Kamstrup and hand-dated 1880. The offered note is graded “1” in the Scandinavian system which stands for Fine Condition, and it has an estimated value of 350,000 kroner.

The designs were made using green ink on white paper. They were printed using a copper plate and multicolour letterpress techniques. Till 1891, the obverse designs were printed in London while the reverse was printed at the bank’s facility in Trondheim.