A map of Norway together with Svalbard, built from rectangles and coordinates: this is how the artist Torgeir Husevaag saw the 250th anniversary of Kartverket, the country’s national mapping authority. His design won the competition, and on 8 September 2023 Norges Bank put this 20 kroner into circulation.

Kartverket was founded in 1773, when Norway was not yet an independent state. In Norges Bank’s words, the agency quite literally defined the nation: its surveys fixed borders, served territorial defence and the building of infrastructure. That is why the reverse has no buildings or portraits, only the geometry of a survey grid and the inscription «KARTVERKET 250 ÅR», with the value «20 KR» on the right.

The obverse is by Ingrid Austlid Rise: the profile of King Harald V, the legend «HARALD V NORGES KONGE» and the date. Husevaag’s work is a rare example of an almost abstract coin design, showing cartography in the language of the profession itself.

The coin joins the run of Norwegian commemorative 20 kroner issued for national anniversaries and suits collectors of geography, maps and northern exploration. Grade UNC means the coin has never circulated: no wear, full mint lustre, and the fine coordinate lines remain completely legible.

Numismatics begins with a single coin and continues in the VPcoins catalogue.