1,000th anniversary of the first official Danish coin

1995 was the 1,000th anniversary of the minting of the coin of Svend Tveskæg (Sweyn Forkbeard). This is regarded by mint historians as the first Danish coin. This great coinage event was celebrated with the issue of a commemorative coin on 14 September 1995.

The commemorative coin was minted in two versions: a 20-krone coin of aluminium bronze, of the same size as an ordinary 20-krone coin, and a 200-krone coin of fine silver. The 20-krone coin was minted in an edition of one million coins, and the 200-krone coin in an edition of 27,727 coins.

The commemorative coin is not a new issue of the coin of Sweyn Forkbeard, but a completely new coin designed by former medallist at the Royal Danish Mint, Jan Petersen, who comments:

"The task of designing a 'historical' coin was extremely interesting. My original idea for the portrait on the commemorative coin was a queen's portrait in bracteate style, i.e. like the portraits depicted on much of the renowned bracteate jewellery. The Queen wears a simple hat that resembles the hair styles typical of a bracteate portrait. To achieve a deeper engraving the portrait is laid below the face of the coin. This technique has not previously been applied to Danish coins, but it results in a far better perspective and gives the portrait more depth than the slightly flat portraits usually seen on coins. The motif on the reverse is a Medieval crown with a cross. It is typical of the Danish coins issued in the late Middle Ages, when coins often bore symbols of the King and the Church."

The commemorative coin was minted by the Royal Danish Mint.