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1 Krone / 48 Skilling - Christian IX Handelsstederne i Grønland
| Issuer | Handelsstederne i Grønland (Royal Greenland Trade Department) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1874 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Krone (1873-date) |
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| Obverse description | Light blue letterpress print on light brown paper. An oval frame encloses the central promissory text and denomination, set above a vignette of a pair of dolphins; the royal monogram of Christian IX appears to the left, and a crowned polar bear vignette to the right. Denomination numerals occupy each corner, with bilingual text in Danish and Greenlandic (pre-1973 orthography) running along the lateral margins. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Reverse printed on plain uncoated paper, left entirely blank without any printed design, text, or underprint. |
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| Comments |
The Royal Greenland Trade Department held a state monopoly over all commerce in Greenland, and its paper currency existed entirely outside the Danish metropolitan monetary system — these notes were valid only within Greenland's trading stations and could not be redeemed on the mainland. The dual denomination, expressing value in both Kroner and the older Skilling (48 Skilling equaling 1 Krone), reflects the 1875 currency reform still pending at the time of issue; the monopoly's administration was printing ahead of a transition its remote customers had yet to experience.
Surviving examples are genuinely uncommon. Greenland's climate and the limited, largely non-commercial population meant these notes moved through very few hands before being destroyed or lost.