A hundred øre make one krone, and this set runs the whole scale, from the bronze 1 øre up to the krone, the only denomination here that outlived its fractions.

Norway has counted in kroner and øre since 1875. The smallest coins in the set, the 1 and 2 øre, belong to the reign of Olav V: his crowned monogram on the obverse and woodland fauna on the reverse, a squirrel and a male black grouse. These designs by Øivind Hansen and Per Palle Storm were struck until 1972.

The middle denominations later swapped animals for state symbols: Øivind Hansen moved the 5, 25 and 50 øre to a heraldic lion, a cross of royal monograms and the crowned coat of arms. One by one the denominations were then withdrawn, until the last, the 50 øre, went in 2012; since then the krone has been the country’s smallest coin.

Seven coins show how Norwegian small change worked before that line was crossed, and fill the whole row of minor denominations in a Norway collection at once. Grade UNC: the coins never circulated, show no wear and keep their mint lustre.

Would you like to complete the whole series? See the other issues in the VPcoins catalogue.