Greenland

[<k>]

Various tokens are listed for Greenland in the numismatic literature, but I want to concentrate on the coins only in this topic.

In 1926 three coins were issued for Greenland, which was a Danish colony at the time, in denominations of 25 øre, 50 øre, and 1 krone. The obverse of the coins carried the legend STYRELSE GRØNLANDS and featured the crowned Danish arms, while the reverse of each coin showed the same design of a polar bear on a plinth.

My questions are:

1] What is the meaning of STYRELSE GRØNLANDS?

2] Why were these coins issued only in 1926?

3] Did these coins circulate?

4] What do the initials on the reverse stand for: HCN and GJ?

NOTE: The images below are not to scale. The 1 krone coin (diameter 27mm) is larger than the 50 øre (21.5 mm).

[<k>]

In 1944 Greenland issued a 5 kroner coin, again featuring the same polar bear, but this time the initials on the other coins were not included on the reverse. Again, why was this denomination issued for only one year? Does anybody know the story behind it? At the time, Denmark was still occupied by the Nazis, so I don't know what the arrangements were for governing Greenland.

[<k>]

Does anybody know the status of the later designs attributed to Greenland: the 1 krone issues of 1957 (aluminium-bronze) and 1960 to 1964 (copper-nickel)?

[translateltd]

1] What is the meaning of STYRELSE GRØNLANDS?


4] What do the initials on the reverse stand for: HCN and GJ?

GRØNLANDS STYRELSE  (correct order) is something like Greenland Administration.  Styrelse is cognate with German words starting with Steuer- (control/manage/direct).

I can't expand the initials off-hand but they are the same as the mintmaster's initials you'll find on contemporary Danish coins, and will probably be listed under Denmark.

[natko]

Small population, so limited series of 1926 proved to be enough until 1957 when new coins were issued. Al-Ae coins worn fast and they made Cu-Ni version. They were all equal to Danish krone despite some differences in sizes, and circulated normally on Greenland until demonetized in 70s I think.

Of course, what translateltd said,
HCN is mintmaster Hans Christian Nielsen (worked from 1919-1927)
GJ is engraver Gunnar Jensen (1901-1933)

Tokens were issued on few facilities in the lack of the change, but as always, I don't see the reason why those were incorporated into SCWC, when they could probably make catalog with few hundred pages of each European country tokens that actually circulated.

[malj1]

SCWC tells us...
The 25 øre of 1926 coin was withdrawn from circulation during 1940 and sent to the United States to be holed to avoid confusion with the Danish 1 Krone coin. The hole was added 1940/41 in New York.

1944 5 kroner coin...
Note: Mainly struck for use by American forces in Greenland during WWII, when 5 Kroner was equal to one U.S. dollar.

[chrisild]

Until the early/mid 1950s Greenland basically had the status of a colony. That changed in 1953 when the country became a "regular" part of the kingdom. Denmark issued a commemorative 2 kroner coin (image below from worldcoingallery.com) on that occasion. Greenland's later 1 krone coin (1957-64; taken out of circulation in 1967) with the combined CoA reflects that.



Side notes: In 1979 Greenland got a home rule status; shortly afterwards it "left" the European Communities (inverted commas because it had never joined them), and in 2009 Greenland became largely autonomous. There had been plans to introduce Greenlandic banknotes (krone notes with special designs, much like Føroyar) but the artist who was to do the job first, Naja Abelsen, apparently could not meet the deadlines. In late 2008 Miki Jacobsen got the job ... and in January 2010 the Parliament of Greenland said that the whole project should be suspended.

However, Danish coin series such as the "Ships" and "Towers" include scenes from Greenland too. Also, the Danish "Polar Year" gold coins (2007-2009) were made using gold from the Nalunaq mine in southern Greenland, and the 2008 piece shows a Sirius sledge underneath a map of Greenland. Those Polar Year pieces were issued in base metal, silver, and gold versions, by the way; an image of the silver piece is attached.

Christian

[<k>]

Thanks, everybody, for those excellently detailed answers.

My final question: which species of flower is portrayed on the 1 krone of 1957?

[chrisild]

My final question: which species of flower is portrayed on the 1 krone of 1957?

Oh, doesn't that look like good old Chamerion latifolium?
The coin (in Danish*): http://www.danskmoent.dk/soemod/gron1957.htm
The flower (in English): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_Fireweed

(* Search for "bagsiden" on that page to read more about the depicted flowers, as "chamerion" is apparently misspelled there.)

What do I win?

Christian

[<k>]

Oh, doesn't that look like good old Chamerion latifolium?

A poor rendition, I think.



But thank you, Christian.

> What do I win?

A Chamerion-latifolium-flavoured chocolate bar. You buy it, send me an image of the wrapper, and I'll pay for it. 

[chrisild]

Yes, I guess that in this case we should refer to the occasion and the purpose as two different things. In 1952 the royal couple (King Frederik and Queen Ingrid) visited Greenland, and a little later the Dronning Ingrids Hospital was founded. The coin was a fundraiser for that purpose - fighting tuberculosis - and was therefore sold at a price of 5 kroner (face value 2 kr). However, the piece was issued on 27 May 1953, one day before the constitutional referendum which also changed the legal status of Greenland. Coincidence? Probably not ...

Christian

[Harald]

1] What is the meaning of STYRELSE GRØNLANDS?

Means "Government of Greenland"

It has some significance since there were two authorities issuing coins. Beside the government there was the
Royal Greenland Trade Office (Trade Board) or "Kongelige Grønlandsk Handel". All the coins circulated until
1967 when they were replaced by Danish coins.

cheers
--
Harald

[Globetrotter]

I think the Danes still have 2 representatives from Greenland in their parlament (as do the Faeroe Islands). They are NOT supposed to interfere in internal Danish affairs....

Here is an extract from Wikipedia concerning Greenland:

the Danish government retains control of foreign affairs, national defence, the police force, and the justice system. It also retains control of monetary policy, providing an initial annual subsidy of DKK 3.4 billion, slated to diminish gradually over time as Greenland's economy is strengthened by increased income from the extraction of natural resources.
Greenland's head of state is Margrethe II, Queen regnant of Denmark. The Queen's government in Denmark appoints a High Commissioner (Rigsombudsmand) to represent it on the island. The current commissioner is Mikaela Engell.

Greenlanders elect two representatives to the Folketing, Denmark's parliament, out of 179 total. The current representatives are Sara Olsvig of the Inuit Community Party and another representative from the Forward Party.

Greenland also has its own Parliament, which has 31 members. The head of government is the Prime Minister, usually the leader of the majority party in Parliament. The current Prime Minister is Kuupik Kleist of the Inuit Community.

Regards