2 Kroner - Christian IX Anniversary of Reign

Issued to mark the fortieth anniversary of Christian IX's accession to the Danish throne, this coin was authorized despite widespread awareness that the king was in serious physical decline — he died just two years later, in January 1906, at age 87. Christian's long reign had made him one of Europe's most consequential dynastic figures not through military or legislative power but through the marriages of his children: a daughter became Queen of Great Britain, another Empress of Russia, and a son King of Greece.

The .800 silver standard was already a concession to cost — Denmark had moved away from the finer .875 alloy used in earlier commemorative issues.