The rigsdaler specie was a unit of silver currency used in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

from 1544, renamed as the speciedaler in 1816 and used until 1873. Norway used a common

reichsthaler The ''Reichsthaler'' (; modern spelling Reichstaler), or more specifically the ''Reichsthaler specie'', was a standard thaler silver coin introduced by the Holy Roman Empire in 1566 for use in all German states, minted in various versions for the ...

currency system shared with

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

until 1873 when the

gold standard A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...

was implemented in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

and the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

Rigsdaler specie

The reichsthaler currency system used in Northern Europe until 1873 consisted of the silver

Reichsthaler The ''Reichsthaler'' (; modern spelling Reichstaler), or more specifically the ''Reichsthaler specie'', was a standard thaler silver coin introduced by the Holy Roman Empire in 1566 for use in all German states, minted in various versions for the ...

specie (''Rigsdaler specie'') worth 120 ''skillings'' in Norway and Denmark, and the lower-valued ''Rigsdaler courant'' worth th of specie or 96 ''skillings'' (both units worth 60 and 48 ''schellingen'', respectively, in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein). The Hamburg Bank equated 9 reichsthalers specie to a

Cologne Mark The Cologne mark is an obsolete unit of weight (or mass) equivalent to 233.856 grams (about 3,609 grains). The Cologne mark was in use from the 11th century onward. It came to be used as the base unit for a number of currency standards, including ...

of fine silver, hence 25.28 g silver in a ''rigsdaler specie''.

Coins

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, coins were issued in denominations of 1, 2, 4, 8 and 24 skilling, , , , , and 1 rigsdaler specie.

Banknotes

In 1695, government notes were issued for 10, 20, 25, 50 and 100 rigsdaler (spelt rixdaler). In 1807, notes were reintroduced by the government, in denominations of 1, 5, 10 and 100 rigsdaler courant, with 12 skilling notes added in 1810. In 1813, Rigsbankens Norske Avdeling began issuing notes. in denominations of 1, 5, 50, and 100 Rigsbankdaler. Subsequent series were issued by Norges Midlertidige Rigsbank (1814), Stattholderbevis (1815), and Norges Bank (1817–22 to the present).

Norwegian Speciedaler

After the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

Denmark dropped out of the system described above in favor of a lower-valued

Danish rigsdaler The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were of ...

. However Norway retained the system even after its union with Sweden, renaming the specie coin as the ''Speciedaler'' but still divided into 120 ''skillings''. It was replaced by the

Norwegian krone The krone (, currency sign, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); ISO 4217, code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is the currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including List of possessions of Norway, overseas territories and dependencies). It was t ...

when Norway joined the

Scandinavian Monetary Union __NOTOC__ The Scandinavian Monetary Union was a monetary union formed by Denmark and Sweden on 5 May 1873, with Norway joining in 1875. It established a common currency unit, the krone/krona, based on the gold standard. It was one of the few tan ...

. An equal valued krone/krona of the monetary union replaced the three currencies at the rate of 1 krone/krona =

= Norwegian speciedaler = 1

Swedish riksdaler The Svenska riksdaler () was the name of a Swedish coin first minted in 1604. Between 1777 and 1873, it was the currency of Sweden. The daler, like the dollar,''National Geographic''. June 2002. p. 1. ''Ask Us''. was named after the German Thal ...

Coins

In 1816, coins in circulation from the previous currency remained in circulation, with only 1 skilling coins being minted. A new coinage was introduced in 1819, consisting of copper 1 and 2 skilling and silver 8 and 24 skilling, and 1 specidaler. Silver 2 and 4 skilling coins were introduced in 1825, followed by copper skilling pieces in 1839, silver 12 skilling in 1845 and silver 3 skilling in 1868. It was made out of Iron.

Banknotes

Norges Bank began issuing notes in 1817, with denominations of 24 skilling, , 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 speciedaler.

Notes

References

* * * Modern obsolete currencies Silver coins Early Modern currencies Currencies of Norway 1544 in Norway 1544 establishments 1873 disestablishments Economic history of Norway Dollar {{money-unit-stub