Swedish krona

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Swedish krona svensk krona (Swedish)
All current krona notes (including the old 50 kr and 1000 kr notes)
ISO 4217 Code	SEK
User(s)	Sweden
Inflation	2.0%
Source	Sveriges Riksbank, February 2007
Method	CPI
Subunit
1/100	öre
Symbol	kr
Plural	kronor
öre	öre
Coins
Freq. used	50 öre, 1 kr, 5 kr, 10 kr
Rarely used	2 kr
Banknotes
Freq. used	20 kr, 50 kr, 100 kr, 500 kr
Rarely used	1000 kr
Central bank	Sveriges Riksbank
Website	www.riksbank.se
Printer	Tumba Bruk
Website	www.tumbabruk.se

The krona (currency code SEK) has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. It is locally abbreviated kr. The plural form is kronor and one krona is divided into 100 öre (singular and plural, if not preceded by a number the plural becomes ören). The currency is sometimes informally referred to as the "Swedish crown" in English or the "couronne suédoise" in French.

The introduction of the krona, which replaced at par the riksdaler riksmynt, was a result of the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which came into effect in 1873 and lasted until the First World War. The parties to the union were the Scandinavian countries, where the name was krona in Sweden and krone in Denmark and Norway, which in English literally means crown. After dissolution of the monetary union Sweden, Denmark and Norway all decided to keep the name of their respective and now separate currencies.

By tradition the one-krona coins carry the effigy of current monarch on the obverse, and a crown or one of the two Coat of arms of Sweden on the reverse. The royal motto of the monarch is also inscribed on the coin.

[edit] Coins

[edit] 1 krona coin

Five generations of 1 krona coins. The three first, from left, have the current king, Carl XVI Gustaf, the fourth has Gustaf VI Adolf and the fifth, Gustaf V.

Six different versions of the Swedish one krona coin are still valid, from left to right:
2001-present: Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
2000: Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
1976-2000: Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
1952-1975: Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden
1909-1950: Gustaf V of Sweden
1875-1907: Oscar II of Sweden (no picture here)
All have 25 mm diameter. Until 1967 they contained silver, and these are very rare in circulation since they are worth several kr.

[edit] Other denominations

There are also 2-kronor coins (minted 1952–1971) in circulation, although rarely seen. They have 31 mm diameter and look like the 1 krona coins from respective period (3 main variants). These contained 40% silver until 1966, which meant that they already several years ago were worth much more than 2 kr, so most have been bought and melted down by arbitrageurs, and the rest are kept by collectors.

In addition, all jubilee and commemorative coins are also legal tender. In the past there have also been ½ öre, 1 öre, 2 öre, 5 öre, 10 öre and 25 öre coins. These are no longer legal tender.

[edit] Banknotes

Current Series [1]
Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Colour	Description
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		20 kronor	130 × 72 mm	Bluish purple	Selma Lagerlöf	Nils Holgersson flying over Scania
		20 kronor	120 × 67 mm
		50 kronor	120 × 77 mm	Yellow	Jenny Lind	Key harp and its tonal range
		100 kronor	140 × 72 mm	Light blue	Carolus Linnaeus	Bee pollinating a flower
		500 kronor	150 × 82 mm	Reddish gray	Charles XI	Christopher Polhem
		1000 kronor	160 × 82 mm	Yellowish gray	Gustav Vasa	Olaus Magnus' picture of the Northern Peoples from 1555
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimetre, a standard for world banknotes. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

[edit] Changes

The Riksdag (the Swedish parliament) decided on October 27, 2004, following a proposal from the Riksbank, that some older series of banknotes and coins would cease to be legal tender after December 31, 2005. The banknotes and coins affected were:

• all silver-coloured 50-öre coins.
• the old, slightly larger version of the 20-krona banknote with the bluish shade.
• the old 100- and 500-krona banknotes without a foil strip.

None of the banknotes are common in circulation, but the two variants of the 50 öre coin were, until 2005 just as common as the copper coin. [2]

Commercial banks stopped accepting the old 50 öre coin on 30 April 2006, but continued accepting the invalid notes until the end of 2006. After that, the notes may still be exchanged at the central bank. The coins, on the other hand, formally lost their complete value when commercial banks stopped accepting them.

As of March 15, 2006 there are security enhanced versions of the 50 and 1000 krona banknotes in circulation.

[edit] Exchange rate

The exchange rate of the Swedish krona against other currencies has historically been dependent on the monetary policy pursued by Sweden at the time. Since November 1992 a managed float regime has been upheld.

[edit] The euro

According to the 1995 accession treaty, Sweden is required to join the eurozone and therefore must convert to the euro at some point. Notwithstanding this, on 14 September 2003, a consultative Swedish referendum was held on the euro, the result of which was ultimately a rejection of the common currency with 42% percent of voters in favour and 56% against with a voter turnout of approximately 80% (according to the BBC) ^[1]. The Swedish government has argued that such a line of action is possible since one of the requirements for eurozone membership is a prior two-year membership of the ERM II. By simply choosing to stay outside the exchange rate mechanism, the Swedish government is provided a formal loophole avoiding the theoretical requirement of adopting the euro.

Some of Sweden's major parties continue to believe that it would be in the national interest to join, but they have all pledged to abide by the results for the time being and show no interest in raising the issue again. There is an agreement among the parties not to discuss the issue before the 2010 general election. After it a debate could start leading towards a new referendum 2012 or later. It is likely that will be considerably later than that. Polls have under 2005 and 2006 shown figures in the neighbourhood of 45% yes and 55 % no, not counting people unsure (about 15 %).

[edit] See also

• Monetary policy of Sweden
• Swedish National Debt Office
• Table of historical exchange rates
• Scandinavian Monetary Union
• Danish krone
• Norwegian krone
• Icelandic króna
• Faroese króna
• Swedish rounding

[edit] External links

• (English) Sveriges Riksbank

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