Currency

Coins have been used in Norway since the Viking Era. 10,000 Arabic, German and Anglo Sachsen coins have been found from this period. Only three were Norwegian. The first known Norwegian coin was the the Olav Tryggvason silver penny. In 1628 a mint was established in Christiania (now Oslo), using silver from the mines and works at Kongsberg. In 1695 the first Norwegian banknotes were made.

Two years after the separation from Denmark and the union with Sweden, in 1816, Norges Bank (The central bank of Norway) was established. The monetary unit was set to be the speciedaler (rixdollar), divided into 120 skillings or five ort ("rigsort") of 24 skillings each. Legal tender today :

• Coins : 1, 5, 10 and 20 kroner

• Notes : 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 kroner

Pictures of legal tender notes and coins can be found at Norges Bank