What is the name of the official currency in Iceland? What interesting can you tell about her? And what are the coins of Iceland remarkable for? Our article will introduce you to the money of this northern country.
Currency of Iceland: general information
The official currency of Iceland is called the Icelandic krona. This is a relatively young European currency, it was introduced in 1885. The international letter code of the Icelandic krone is ISK. According to the current exchange rate (as of August 2017), one Russian ruble is equal to 1.75 ISK.
In modern Iceland, paper notes in denominations of 500, 1000, 2000, 5000 and 10,000 kroons are in circulation. An interesting feature: all these banknotes differ in different parameters. Thus, a bill of denomination of 500 kroons has a length of 14.5 cm, but the largest bill (10,000 kroons) is 16 cm. The Icelandic banknotes show prominent representatives of the country's science and culture, priests and statesmen.
Coins in Iceland are represented by the following denominations: 1, 5, 10, 50 and 100 crowns. They are made of a copper-nickel alloy, steel or bronze, differ in different thickness and weight. On the coins of Iceland you can see dolphins, capelin, crabs and some other marine inhabitants.
Until 1944, all the coins of this country were also decorated with the monogram of the monarch Christian H. But when Iceland transformed from a monarchy into a republic, all the royal symbolism disappeared from its money.
Eyre - Iceland's small coin
Iceland is one of the few countries in the world in which there is no fractional (exchange) money. But before, such a unit existed and was called "air" (in Icelandic - aurar). A law abolishing the division of the Icelandic krone into smaller exchange units was adopted in 2002. From that moment on, all estimated amounts and operations in the country began to be rounded up to 50 air.
The name of the fractional coin of Iceland comes from the ancient Roman gold coin “Aureus”. She, in turn, borrowed her name from the Latin word aurum, which translates as "gold".
The first airs were minted back in 1922. Initially, they were issued by the Danish Mint, then the British, until 1986, when Iceland acquired its own private mint in the city of Birmingham. Icelandic Eyre differed in different sizes and weight. So, the lightest coin was minted in aluminum in the first half of the 70s (10 air). Her weight was 0.45 grams. The heaviest coin (5 air) was issued in the 20-30s and weighed 6 grams.
Rare coins of Iceland: prices and list
Below we bring to your attention the five most expensive and rarest coins of Iceland. Each of them will be a wonderful decoration of any numismatic collection:
- Bronze coin 2 crowns (20th year). Price: 700 rubles.
- Bronze coin 5 Eyre (30 years). Price: 1500 rubles.
- Coin "1000 years to Ericsson" (2000). Price: 2400 rubles.
- Coin "1100 years of the first mention of Iceland" (1974). Price: 2500 rubles.
- Coin "1000 years of Iceland" (1930). Price: 8800 rubles.
In general, the cost of various Icelandic coins varies widely. It all depends on the circulation and year of release. So, coins of the 70-90s on specialized sites can be purchased on average for 20-50 rubles apiece. Older crowns and Eyre can cost tens and even hundreds of times more expensive. It is much more difficult to find air on sale, since their release ceased in the late 1990s.