50 Rigsbankdaler N.V. Prinsesedler

Norges Bank was established by law on 14 April 1816, but these "prinsesedler" — princess notes — were issued earlier, in 1814, as part of the monetary improvisation surrounding Norwegian independence from Denmark. The name derives not from any royal personage but from the thin, almost translucent quality of the paper, a colloquial observation that stuck. They were emergency instruments issued under severe material constraints, with no established central bank yet in place to back them.

Heinrich August Grosch was primarily an architect, which explains the somewhat austere typographic character of the design — he was not a professional banknote engraver. Surviving examples are extraordinarily rare; most were redeemed and destroyed once Norges Bank formally began operations and issued its own series.