Catalog
1 Rigsdaler Courant
| Issuer | Regjeringens Commission (Norwegian Government Commission) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1807 |
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| Value | 1 Rigsdaler Courant |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black letterpress on plain paper. At the top, the serial number is followed by an oval frame enclosing the denomination. The lower portion carries the full promissory text in Danish-Norwegian script, flanked on the left by a floral ornamental device and on the right by an authorising signature, with additional manuscript signatures completing the validation of the assignation. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | No. 585723 Een Rigsdaler dansk Courant Paa forlangende erholder Ihændehaveren af denne Assignation ved Foreviisning Een Rigsdaler dansk Courant, enten ved den Slesvig - Holsteenske Casse i Rendsborg, eller ved den Kongelige Amtstue i Aalborg. Imidlertid validerer denne Assignation, indtil samme vorder indkaldt, imellem Mand og Mand, for I. Rigdaler dansk Courant modtages saaledes i alle Kongelige Oppebörseler. Udstædt i Fölge den allerhöyeste Forordning af 18. September 1807. og efter Autorisation fra den Kongelige Regjerings Commission. Christiania, den 1. October 1807. |
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| Comments |
Norway had no central bank in 1807 — the Norges Bank wouldn't be founded until 1816 — so when the Napoleonic Wars severed Denmark-Norway's access to Copenhagen's financial institutions, a makeshift commission was hastily empowered to issue emergency paper currency directly in Christiania. These notes were a stopgap, plain and simple, produced locally rather than through any established printing house with banknote experience.
The Continental Blockade had strangled coin supplies. Public acceptance was grudging at best, and the notes depreciated quickly against silver. Surviving examples frequently show heavy handling — not from prestige circulation but from grinding daily use in a cash-starved economy.