1/2 Speciedaler

Norges Bank was established by the Storting in 1816 specifically to stabilize Norwegian finances after the catastrophic depreciation of the Riksbank daler during the Napoleonic period. The speciedaler was introduced as the new monetary unit, defined against silver, and the early note issues of the 1820s were the first real test of whether the public would accept paper from the new institution. They largely did not — silver hoarding remained common well into the 1830s.

The manuscript serial number and impressed stamp reflect how rudimentary the bank's anti-counterfeiting capabilities were in this period. The Trondheim printing works was the sole domestic source for these notes throughout the series run.