Catalog
1 Rigsbankdaler
| Issuer | Rigsbanken (Royal Bank of Denmark), Christiania Branch |
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| Year | 1813-1814 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black letterpress on plain paper, with a decorative scrollwork vignette along the left margin enclosing a large ornamental letter 'E' for 'Een' (one). The denomination is stated at the top, followed by a central promissory text in Danish pledging redemption at par by the Rigsbanken in Copenhagen, issued under the authority of the Foundation of 5 January, §4. Two manuscript signatures appear at the foot of the note, with the place and date of issue inscribed below. |
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| Obverse lettering | No. 603256 Een Rigs- bankdaler. Paa Anfordring indløser Rigsbanken i Kiøbenhavn denne Anviisning med 1 Rbdlr., og validere den imidlertid ſom Rigsbankpenge efter Fundationen af 5 Januar den 4 §. Udstædt efter Rigsbankens fuldmagt og paa dens Vegne. Christiania den 7 Jan 1814 |
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| Comments |
Rigsbanken was established by royal decree in January 1813 as Denmark-Norway scrambled to manage a financial collapse triggered by the Napoleonic Wars and the British naval blockade. The Christiania branch served the Norwegian half of the union, issuing its own notes locally rather than relying on Copenhagen — a practical concession to the difficulty of moving currency across the Skagerrak under wartime conditions.
This note predates Norwegian independence by less than two years. The 1814 dissolution of the Denmark-Norway union rendered Rigsbanken's Norwegian operations immediately obsolete, and a significant portion of the Christiania branch's outstanding notes were left in circulation without a clear redemption authority — an unresolved problem that complicated the early finances of the new Norwegian state.