2 Kroner (Royal Couple) – Denmark

In 1892, Denmark found itself at a critical juncture in its monetary history, deeply entangled in the Scandinavian Monetary Union (SMU) formed with Sweden in 1873 and joined by Norway in 1875. This union established a gold standard with the krone/krona as a shared unit of account, allowing the member countries' coins to circulate freely across borders. While successful in facilitating trade, the system created vulnerabilities, as Denmark's economy, heavily reliant on agricultural exports, was particularly sensitive to the global collapse in grain prices during the late 1880s.

The core crisis stemmed from a significant outflow of gold reserves. As Denmark ran persistent trade deficits, gold coins—the foundation of the currency—were physically shipped to Sweden and other creditor nations to settle accounts. This drain was exacerbated by a loss of confidence; both domestic and foreign holders of Danish banknotes began to exercise their legal right to redeem them for gold, further depleting the central bank's reserves. By 1892, the situation was acute, threatening Denmark's ability to maintain the gold convertibility required by the Union.

Consequently, the Danish government and the Nationalbank were forced to take drastic action. In 1892, they proposed emergency legislation to suspend the right to redeem banknotes for gold, a move that effectively took Denmark off the gold standard in practice, though it remained nominally in the Union. This suspension, passed in 1893, was a defensive measure to halt the gold hemorrhage and protect the remaining reserves. It marked a pivotal shift toward a managed currency, setting the stage for future monetary policy independence and highlighting the strains within the SMU that would ultimately lead to its dissolution decades later.