The fifty øre coin is the smallest-denomination coin of the Danish krone. Since the removal of the 25 øre coin in 2008, it has been the only Danish coin with a face value of under one krone.

Design

The design is almost identical to the 25 øre coin issued in 1991, the only differences being the face value of the coin and the size.

History

The first coin of the denomination of half of a krone was a ½ krone coin issued in 1924, measuring 20mm in diameter and 2mm in thickness. It featured on its obverse the monogram of King

Christian X of Denmark Christian X ( da, Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 to his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, in the form of a personal union rather ...

, and the crown on the reverse. It was made of

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and shared its design with the krone coin of the time. Its last minting was in 1940 and it was demonetised on 31 December 1942. The present fifty øre coin was introduced into circulation on 3 July 1989 after the demonetisation of the five and ten øre coins. Its obverse features

the crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

of King

Christian V of Denmark Christian V (15 April 1646 25 August 1699) was king of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699. Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the decree ...

. The coin is composed of a bronze of 97%

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

, 2.5%

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

and 0.5%

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

. As of January 2018, 50 øre is around 8 US cents.

References

Coins of Denmark Numismatics Fifty-cent coins {{Denmark-stub