About the Danish Krone

Country: Denmark
Currency:	Krone
Alias:	Danish krone
ISO 4217 CODE: DKK/208
Symbol:	Dkr

The Danish krone has served as the national currency of Denmark and Greenland since 1873, and is regulated by Danmarks Nationalbank. The Danish krone is closed related to the Swedish krona and the Norwegian krone, all of which were part of the Scandinavian Monetary Union from 1875 to 1914, which fixed all three currencies at par with each other and tied them to a gold standard. Denmark is one of several European Union members that has opted not to convert its national currency to the euro, however the value of the Danish krone has been pegged to the euro since 1999.

Background of the Danish Krone

The Danish krone, or “crown,” dates back to 1873, when it replaced an older form of currency – the rigsdaler – as part of Denmark’s participation in the Scandinavian Monetary Union. The union dissolved in 1914, but Denmark retained the krone as its national currency. The plural of krone is kroner.

Denmark’s principal exports are machinery, technical instrumentation and food products. The national economy is exceptionally stable, as signified by a low inflation rate and low unemployment. Denmark is also well known as a welfare state, whereby all of its citizens receive basic healthcare services paid for by the government. This benefits comes at an expense, though, and taxation rates remain high for Danes.

While Denmark is a member of the European Union, it has opted against converting to the euro as its national currency, instead retaining the krone. The krone’s exchange rate was pegged to the German deutschmark for many years, but it has been pegged to the euro since January 1, 1999, in accordance with the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) II.

The krone is divided into 100 øre. Denominations for coins are 25 øre, 50 øre, 1 Dkr, 2 Dkr, 5 Dkr, 10 Dkr and 20 Dkr. Denominations for notes are 50 Dkr, 100 Dkr, 200 Dkr, 500 Dkr and 1,000 Dkr.

Article: Euro