20 Kroner - Christian IX

Christian IX's 20 Kroner was among the first coins struck under the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which Denmark, Sweden, and Norway formalized in 1873 — the opening year of this type. The Union pegged member currencies to gold at a common rate, eliminating exchange costs across borders and making this coin legally spendable in Stockholm or Christiania as readily as Copenhagen.

Denmark's entry into the Union came just two years after the humiliation of the Second Schleswig War, in which Prussia and Austria had stripped roughly a third of Danish territory. Fiscal credibility mattered enormously in that political climate.