Catalog
1 Krone Handelsstederne i Grønland
| Issuer | Handelsstederne i Grønland (Danish Greenland Trade Posts) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1883 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Krone (1873-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Ornate rectangular frame with the denomination numeral in each corner; three of the four border panels bear the value in written form, while the bottom panel carries the serial number. The central vignette shows the denomination above two dolphins flanking a trident, flanked on either side by the Greenlandic crowned polar bear arms, each beast facing inward toward the centre. Promissory text runs above and below the central composition. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Blank reverse, though some examples are known to bear manuscript or printed text not part of the original issued design. |
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| Comments |
The Handelsstederne i Grønland notes were not conventional banknotes in any modern sense — they functioned as internal trade currency within the Danish colonial trading posts, valid only for transactions conducted through the state monopoly that controlled virtually all commerce on the island. Ordinary Greenlandic hunters and fishermen received these notes in exchange for blubber, hides, and eiderdown, and could spend them only back at the same company stores.
The 1883 series is among the earliest surviving paper issues from the Greenlandic trade system. Surviving examples are genuinely rare; the harsh Arctic climate was punishing on paper, and most notes simply disintegrated in use.