Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II's 60th birthday |  |
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| Commemorative coin to mark the 60th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. |
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According to tradition the Queen's 60th birthday on 16 April 2000 was marked with the issue of two commemorative coins – a 20-krone coin of the same size and alloy as the ordinary 20-krone coin in circulation, and a larger 200-krone coin minted in fine silver. The 200-krone coin was minted in an edition of approximately 59,900, and the 20-krone coin in an edition of approximately one million.
The coins were designed by the sculptor Professor Mogens Møller and minted by the Royal Danish Mint.
The motif on the obverse of the coin is a right-side profile of the Queen. Behind the queen a stylised marguerite can be discerned. The portrait is placed in a small hollow in the coin so that the relief stands especially high.
On the reverse appear a crown and a bunch of marguerites, together with the coin denomination and the years 1940 and 2000. This version of the crown was used on the ½-, 1- and 2-krone coins dating from the period 1924-41.
Mogens Møller comments on the composition:
"I was fortunate to be present at the opening of the artist Per Kirkeby's museum i Aars, where the Queen was the guest of honour. What I see is this: the Queen descends a few steps to her chair in the main hall at Aars Gymnasium, turns and lifts her head to greet the those assembled with an intense gaze.
I have tried to express this via a modelled turn of the head around an axis from the Dutch necklace through the centre of the coin. A line at right angles to the axis through the centre directly indicates the direction of the gaze.
The Queen's ear is slightly off-centre in order to create a distinction between the listening and the gaze.
Finally, the whole movement is exposed by the stylised petal behind the portrait, to emphasise that it is taking place "now".
The flowers on the other side of the commemorative coin express the diversity of the representation.
The crown, the text and the diadem are permanent content symbols, while the gaze and listening are content elements included in the portrait as a memory."
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