10 Krónur - Christian IX Landssjóður Íslands

Iceland had no central bank in 1886 — the Landssjóður Íslands was the national treasury, and these notes were issued under Danish Crown authority, reflecting Iceland's status as a dependency rather than an independent monetary power. The series was designed by Henrik Olrik, a Danish artist better known for his medallic work, which gives the engraving an unusually sculptural quality for a small-circulation colonial issue. H.H. Thiele in Copenhagen handled the printing, as they did for much of Scandinavia's official document work in this period.

Pick 2 is scarce in any grade. Iceland's population was under 70,000, and physical circulation in a dispersed rural island economy was punishing on paper.