Swedish krona

Swedish krona
svensk krona (Swedish)
Older Swedish bank notes which will become invalid in 2016 and 2017.
ISO 4217 code	SEK
Central bank	Sveriges Riksbank
Website	www.riksbanken.se
User(s)	Sweden
Inflation	0.1 % (target 2.0 ± 1)[1]
Source	September 2015[2]
Method	CPI
Subunit
1/100	öre
Symbol	kr
Nickname	spänn, bagare/bagis, pix, daler, riksdaler, crowns (English)
Plural	kronor
Coins
Freq. used	1 kr, 5 kr, 10 kr
Banknotes
Freq. used	20 kr, 50 kr, 100 kr, 200 kr, 500 kr
Rarely used	1000 kr
Printer	Tumba Bruk
Website	www.crane.se

The krona (Swedish: [ˈkruːˈna]; plural: kronor; sign: kr; code: SEK) has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it but, especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value. In English, the currency is sometimes referred to as the Swedish crown, as krona literally means crown in Swedish. The Swedish krona was the 11th most traded currency in the world by value in April 2013.^[3]

One krona is subdivided into 100 öre (singular and plural; when referring to the currency unit itself, however, the plural definite form is ören). However, all öre coins have been discontinued as of 30 September 2010.^[4] Goods can still be priced in öre, but all sums are rounded to the nearest krona when paying with cash.

History

The introduction of the krona, which replaced at par the riksdaler, was a result of the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which came into effect in 1873 and lasted until World War I. 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". The three currencies were on the gold standard, with the krona/krone defined as ¹⁄₂₄₈₀ of a kilogram of pure gold.

After dissolution of the monetary union in August 1914, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway all decided to keep the names of their respective and now separate currencies.

Coins

Contemporary

History

Two golden 20 kr coins from the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which was based on a gold standard. The coin to the left is Swedish and the right one is Danish.

Between 1873 and 1876, coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 öre and 1, 2, 10, and 20 kronor were introduced. The 1, 2 and 5 öre were in bronze, the 10, 25, 50 öre and 1 krona and 2 kronor were in silver, and the 10 and 20 kronor were in gold. Gold 5 kronor coins were added in 1881.

In 1902, production of gold coins ceased, and was briefly restarted in 1920 and 1925 before ceasing entirely. Due to metal shortages during World War I, iron replaced bronze between 1917 and 1919. Nickel-bronze replaced silver in the 10, 25 and 50 öre in 1920, with silver returning in 1927.

Metal shortages due to World War II again led to changes in the Swedish coinage. Between 1940 and 1947, the nickel-bronze 10, 25 and 50 öre were again issued. In 1942, iron again replaced bronze (until 1952) and the silver content of the other coins was reduced. In 1962, cupronickel replaced silver in the 10 öre, 25 öre and 50 öre coins.

In 1968, the 2 kronor switched to cupronickel and the 1 krona switched to cupronickel-clad copper (it was replaced entirely by cupronickel in 1982). Nonetheless, all previous mintages of 1 and 2 kronor coins are still legal tender, since 1875 and 1876 respectively (though 2 kronor coins are extremely rarely seen in circulation as they have not been issued since 1971.^[8] The 2 kr coins contained 40% silver until 1966, which meant they had been for several years worth much more than 2 kr, so most have been bought and melted down by arbitrageurs, and the rest are kept by collectors). A new design of 2 kronor coins will be issued in 2016.

In 1954, 1955 and 1971, 5 kronor silver coins were produced, with designs similar to contemporary 1 krona and 2 kronor coins. In 1972, a new, smaller 5 kronor coin was introduced, struck in cupronickel-clad nickel. The current design has been produced since 1976. 5 kronor coins minted since 1954 are legal tender but tend to be kept by collectors for their silver content.

In 1971, the 1 and 2 öre, as well as the 2 kronor coins ceased production. The size of the 5 öre coin was reduced in 1972.^[9] In 1984, production of the 5 and 25 öre coins came to an end, followed by that of the 10 öre in 1991.

In 1991, aluminium-brass ("Nordic gold") 10 kronor coins were introduced. Previous 10 kronor coins are not legal tender.

Also in 1991, bronze-coloured 50 öre coins were introduced.

Jubilee and commemorative coins have been minted and those since 1897 or later are also legal tender.^[10]

The royal motto of the monarch is also inscribed on many of the coins. The 5 kronor coin was designed in 1974, at a time when there were political efforts to abandon the monarchy, when there was a new young inexperienced king. The monarchy remained, but the 5 kronor was not given a portrait. Coins minted before 1974 have the same size, but contain the portrait of King Gustav VI Adolf and his royal motto.

Recent changes

On 18 December, 2008, the Riksbank announced a proposal to phase out the 50 öre, the final öre coin, by 2010. The öre would still remain a subdivision unit for electronic payments.^[11] The reason could include low purchasing power, higher production and distribution cost than the value and the coins cannot be used in most parking machines and vending machines.^[12] On March 25, 2009, the Riksdag formally decided to enact the law to repeal 50 öre coins as legal tender. Under that law, the final date payments could be made with 50 öre coins was September 30, 2010. Remaining 50 öre coins could be exchanged at banks until the end of March 2011.

Planned coins

On 11 September 2012, the Riksbank announced a new series of coins to replace the 1 and 5 kronor coins which will be arriving in October 2016.^[13][14] Under the theme of the singer-songwriter Ted Gärdestad's song, "Sol, vind och vatten" (English: "Sun, wind and water") ^[15] with the designs depicting the elements on the reverse side of the coins. This would also include the reintroduction of the 2 kronor coin, while the current 10 kronor coin would remain the same. The new coins would also have a new portrait of the king in the design. One of the reasons for a new series of coins is to end the use of nickel.

Banknotes

History

1909 specimen (with approval on the reverse) of a Sveriges Riksbank 1,000 kronor note.

In 1874, notes were introduced by the Riksbank in denominations of 1 krona and 5, 10, 50, 100 and 1000 kronor. The 1 krona was only initially issued for two years, although it reappeared between 1914 and 1920. In 1939 and 1958, 10,000 kronor notes were issued.

The 5 kronor bill was discontinued in 1981, although a coin had been issued since 1972. In 1985, the 500 kronor bill was introduced. With the introduction of a 10 kronor coin in 1991, production of 10 kronor bills ceased and a 20 kronor bill was introduced. Production of 50 kronor bills was suspended that year but resumed in 1996.

In 2006, the Riksbank introduced a new 1000 kronor note^[16] which is the first bill to contain the "Motion" security feature developed by Crane, then called Tumba Bruk. Crane AB, located in Tumba, Sweden, prints all of the kronor banknotes.

Banknotes from this series will be withdrawn by 2017.

Contemporary notes

Current Swedish banknote series^[17]

Image		Value	Dimensions	Main Color	Description
Obverse	Reverse				Obverse	Reverse
		20 kronor	120 × 67 mm	Purple	Selma Lagerlöf	Nils Holgersson flying over Scania
		50 kronor	120 × 77 mm	Yellow	Jenny Lind	Key harp and its tonal range
		100 kronor	140 × 72 mm	Blue	Carl von Linné	Bee pollinating a flower
		500 kronor	150 × 82 mm	Red	Charles XI	Christopher Polhem
		1000 kronor	160 x 82 mm	Grey	Gustav Vasa	A harvest picture from Olaus Magnus' Description
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixels per millimeter. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

2015 Series

On 6 April 2011, the Riksbank announced the names of the persons whose portraits would decorate the new series of banknotes that would be introduced in 2015. This would also include a new 200 kronor banknote. These are:

• Astrid Lindgren on the 20 kronor banknote; Purple
• Evert Taube on the 50 kronor banknote; Orange
• Greta Garbo on the 100 kronor banknote; Blue
• Ingmar Bergman on the 200 kronor banknote; Green
• Birgit Nilsson on the 500 kronor banknote; Red
• Dag Hammarskjöld on the 1000 kronor banknote; Brown

On 24 April 2012, the Riksbank announced the base for the new designs of the banknotes, based on Göran Österlund's entry titled Cultural Journey.^[18][19]

The first banknotes, the 20, 50, 200, and 1000 kronor, were issued on 1 October 2015 with the other two notes, the 100 and 500 kronor, to follow on 3 October 2016.

500 kr banknote controversy

Opera singer Malena Ernman has criticized the Riksbank for choosing a design where Birgit Nilsson has been depicted performing Die Walküre by Richard Wagner. She pointed out that it was very inappropriate to include something by Wagner, whose works were closely associated with Nazi Germany, in a time of increasing problems with antisemitism in Sweden. The Riksbank replied saying that it's "unfortunate that the choice of design is seen as negative", and stated that it's not going to be changed.^[21]

Dagens Nyheter journalist Björn Wiman went further in his criticism, condemning the Riksbank for selecting Nilsson at all for the 500 kr banknote. He brings up an example from Nilsson's 1995 autobiography, where she described Mauritz Rosengarten from Decca using antisemitic jokes about greed.^[22]

Exchange rate

Most traded currencies by value
Currency distribution of global foreign exchange market turnover^[23][24]

Rank	Currency	ISO 4217 code (Symbol)	% daily share (April 2013)
1	United States dollar	USD ($)	87.0%
2	Euro	EUR (€)	33.4%
3	Japanese yen	JPY (¥)	23.0%
4	Pound sterling	GBP (£)	11.8%
5	Australian dollar	AUD ($)	8.6%
6	Swiss franc	CHF (Fr)	5.2%
7	Canadian dollar	CAD ($)	4.6%
8	Mexican peso	MXN ($)	2.5%
9	Chinese yuan	CNY (¥)	2.2%
10	New Zealand dollar	NZD ($)	2.0%
11	Swedish krona	SEK (kr)	1.8%
12	Russian ruble	RUB (₽)	1.6%
13	Hong Kong dollar	HKD ($)	1.4%
14	Norwegian krone	NOK (kr)	1.4%
15	Singapore dollar	SGD ($)	1.4%
16	Turkish lira	TRY (₺)	1.3%
17	South Korean won	KRW (₩)	1.2%
18	South African rand	ZAR (R)	1.1%
19	Brazilian real	BRL (R$)	1.1%
20	Indian rupee	INR (₹)	1.0%
Other			6.3%
Total[25]			200%

Historic exchange rate against the Euro

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 regimen has been upheld.^[26] The exchange rate has been relatively stable against the euro since its introduction 2002 (about 9–9.5 SEK per EUR), but from the second half 2008, the value of the krona has declined by around 20%, and had been oscillating between 10.4–11 SEK per EUR into the first half of 2009. The primary reason for its declining value lies with the Riksbank, which has significantly lowered the interest rate, and has not acted to defend the exchange rate yet. In the second half of 2009 and the start of 2010, the krona started to appreciate; during late 2010 and early 2011 it continued to appreciate at a quicker rate. The exchange rate is currently between 8.5 and 9.0 SEK per EUR. In July 2012, due to crisis in Greece and fear of further spreading to Italy and Spain, the euro continued to decline making the Swedish krona stronger, reaching as low as 8.17 SEK per EUR.

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, in which 56% of voters were opposed to the adoption of the currency, out of an overall turnout of 82.6%.^[27] The Swedish government has argued such a course 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 (like the Liberals) of Sweden's major parties continue to believe it would be in the national interest to join, but all parties have pledged to abide by the results of the referendum, and none have shown any interest in raising the issue again. There was an agreement among the parties not to discuss the issue before the 2010 general election. In a poll from May 2007, 33.3% were in favor, while 53.8% were against and 13.0% were uncertain.^[28]

In February 2009, Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Prime Minister of Sweden stated that a new referendum on the euro issue will not be held until support is gained from the people and all the major parties. Therefore, the timing is now at the discretion of the Social Democrats. He added, the request of Mona Sahlin, former leader of the Social Democratic Party, for deferral of a new referendum until after the 2010 mandate period should be respected.^[29]

As of 2014, support for Swedish membership of the euro among the general population is low. In September 2013, support fell as low as 9%.^[30] The only party in the Riksdag that supports Swedish entry in the euro (as of 2015) is the centrist Liberal Party.^[31]

See also

• Monetary policy of Sweden
• Swedish National Debt Office
• Tables of historical exchange rates to the United States dollar
• Scandinavian Monetary Union
• Swedish rounding
• Economy of Sweden
• Sweden and the euro

References

Further reading

• Krause, Chester L., and Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501. 
• Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9. 

External links

• Sveriges Riksbank (English)
• Swedish monetary standards in historical perspective

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