50 Øre - Oscar II

Oscar II, ruling both Norway and Sweden under the union crown, saw Norwegian silver coinage reduced to .600 fineness in 1874 — a deliberate step toward Scandinavian Monetary Union, which Norway formally joined that same year alongside Denmark and Sweden. The union pegged member currencies to gold but permitted silver subsidiary coinage at reduced fineness to discourage hoarding.

The series ran until 1904, just one year before the union dissolved entirely following Norwegian parliamentary crisis and the eventual abdication of Oscar from the Norwegian throne in 1905.