The Swedish Krona

Basic Overview of Swedish Krona

The Krona has been adopted as the national currency in three European countries which are Sweden, Faroe Island and Iceland. Among these, the most important is the national currency of Sweden which is called the Swedish Krona. The current Swedish Krona came into being after it replaced the previously used currency named ‘riksdaler’ which was prevailing at that time.

‘Riksdaler’ was the official Swedish currency until Until 1873 when it was replaced by the krona as Sweden decided to join with the “Scandinavian Monetary Union” along with Norway and Denmark. The currency was in the Gold standard at that time.  The Union broke after the World War I and the member countries went back to their own currency system, but Sweden kept their currency name as Krona.

In English, Swedish Krona is named as ‘Swedish Crown’ and in French it is called ‘Couronne suédoise’. The sign for depicting Krona is “kr” and in plural it is called “Kronor”. The subunit is called as “ore” and in plural “oren”. But after September 30, 2010 all ‘ore’ coins have been discontinued. The numeric code and currency code of krona is described as 752 and SEK respectively by ISO 4217 regulation.

Swedish krona is still prevailing in Europe though most of the other currencies have been replaced by the Euro as per the decision of the European Union. It is still being used in the world market and the eighth most used currency in trading. Sweden is basically an export oriented country and its currency helps it to keep the growth consistent and sustainable. As Krona is widely in use in world market, its value depends upon the growth and economic status of other countries. Besides that, the country has its own monetary policy to control its value if needed.

Sveriges Riksbank, the central bank of Sweden, manages and distributes the Swedish krona. The notes are printed by a printing company named Tumba Brik which was established by Sveriges Riksbank for manufacturing notes. But this company had been sold to a company named Crane Paper Company. The coinages are available in 50 ore, 1 kr, 2 kr, 5kr and 10 kr. Among them 2 kr are not usually used. Banknotes are available in 5 denominations, these are 20kr, 50kr, 100kr, 500kr and 1000kr. The designs of the notes are handled by the General Council of the central bank of Sweden. Different notes are of different colors and designs. On many Swedish occasions different commemorative coins and notes had been issued by Sveriges Riksbank.