Coin of the Week: 1974 Denmark 5 Kroner

Obverse (Image: Queen Margrethe II)

Reverse (Image: Crowned Shield)

Denmark has a long history of minting, with coins appearing as early as AD 825. Danish coinage was decimalized in 1874, with 1 krone = 100 øre. Although part of the European Union, Denmark has not adapted the Euro. Instead, the krone is pegged to the Euro through the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).

The obverse of the 5 kroner has a depiction of Queen Margrethe II. She inherited the Danish crown from her father in 1972, thanks to a 1953 referendum repealing the laws that prohibited women from inheriting the throne. The reverse depicts the royal coat of arms, a shield divided into four quarters by a cross derived from the Danish flag, the Dannebrog. The first and fourth quarters represent Denmark, with three crowned lions accompanied by nine hearts. The second quarter represents a former Danish province, Schleswig, with two lions. The third quarter consists of three symbols: the three crowns at the top represent the Kalmar Union (that united Denmark, Sweden and Norway), the ram symbolizes the Faroe Islands and the polar bear represents Greenland. The crest at the top is the crown of King Christian V of Denmark.

Here's an interesting note regarding the "S" and "B" on the bottom of the obverse with a heart in between. The heart is a national symbol of Denmark, the "S" is the initial of the mint master at the time, Vagn Sorensen, and the "B" is the initial of the moneyer at the time, Frode Bahnsen.