The fifty øre coin is the smallest-denomination coin of the

Danish krone The krone (; plural: ''kroner''; sign: kr.; code: DKK) is the official currency of Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, introduced on 1 January 1875. Both the ISO code "DKK" and currency sign "kr." are in common use; the former precedes ...

having a value of half a 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 (; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 until his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, holding the title as a result of the personal union between Denmark and independent Icel ...

, and the crown on the reverse. It was made of aluminium bronze 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 a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

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 dec ...

. The coin is composed of a bronze of 97%

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) 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 pinkish-orang ...

, 2.5%

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It 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 periodic tabl ...

and 0.5%

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored 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, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

. As of August 2024, 50 øre worth 7.4 US cents.

References

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