Catalog
1 Krone Handelsstederne i Grønland
| Issuer | Kongelige Grønlandske Handel (Royal Greenland Trade Department) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1905 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Light blue letterpress print on white paper within a decorative frame, with the numeral value repeated in all four corners. The central vignette shows the denomination above two dolphins flanking a triton, with the Greenlandic crowned polar bear coat of arms — bears facing left — positioned on either side. The serial number appears at the bottom of the frame, and the promissory text is inscribed above and below the central design. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Denne Anvisning gælder ved Handelsstederne i Grönland for EN KRONE KJØBENHAVN 1905 (Translation: This note is valid at the trading posts in Greenland for one Krone Copenhagen 1905) |
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| Comments |
The Kongelige Grønlandske Handel was a Danish Crown monopoly that effectively controlled all economic life in Greenland — trade, supply, and the currency itself. These krone notes were a closed-currency instrument, valid only within the Greenlandic trading posts and worthless on the Danish mainland. That arrangement wasn't incidental; it was deliberate policy to prevent capital from leaving the colony.
The 1905 series is among the earliest printed issues for Greenland, and surviving examples in any condition are genuinely uncommon. The remote, damp climate of the trading posts was hard on paper.