Production of coins in Denmark goes about 1000 years back. For the first 500 years it took place at various towns around the country. The first king to start a production of coins in Copenhagen was King Hans. It is believed that it took place in the cellar of his house. Owned by Magasin du Nord, the vaulted premises still exist today at Vingårdstræde 6 where they form part of the restaurant Kong Hans Kælder. In 1541 the Royal Mint relocated to the nearby grounds of the former St. Clare's Monastery, which had been confiscated in 1536 when Denmark officially became a Lutheran nation. One of the streets which emerged as the city built upon the former monastery gardens was named Gammel Mønt in memory of its occupation of the site.
Changing locations
It continued in this location until 1575, when the property became used as a place of worship by a German congregation. The Royal Mint was moved to Bremerholm, the Royal Naval dockyards, most likely in the anchor forge, which was later converted into Church of Holmen. The Royal Munt returned to the former monastery in 1593. From 1614 until 1661 the production of coins mainly took place at Copenhagen Castle, although other sites were also in use as mints during this period. A new currency, the Danish rigsdaler, was introduced in 1625.
Gotfred Krüger, who was the king's mint master from 1664 to 1680, acquired a property in Borgergade in 1671 while the production of coins took place in a neighbouring building. This lasted until 1749 when it was sold. The Mint Master's House was dismantled in 1943 and put into storage. It has now been rebuilt in the Old Townopen-air museum in Aarhus. It was at Borgergade that the practice began of printing a heart on Danish coins. It is unclear whether this symbol originally signified the mint master family or the locality but since the initials CW for Winekes are often found next to it on coins from the time, the latter is assumed to be the case.
In 1749, at Nyhavn, a new Mint was established in the royal mews to the rear of Charlottenborg Palace. The buildings, which were located where Holbersgade crosses the Nyhavn Bridge, was demolished in the early 1870s to make way for the establishment of the new street when the entire Gammelholm area was redeveloped.
A new building for the Mint was completed on the corner of Holbergsgade and Herluf Trolles Gade in 1873. The building, which still exist today, was designed by Ferdinand Meldahl, who was also resonnsible for the overall planning of the neighbourhood, in collaboration with City Architect Ludvig Fenger. Special coins were from 1894 made by the company Fritz Meyer in Gothersgade for use in Angmagssalik on Greenland.
In 1923 the Royal Mint moved once again when a new facility was inaugurated at Amager Boulevard 115 on Amager to designs by Martin Borch. The building is today owned by M. Goldschmidt Holding and has been converted into youth housing and commercial space.
Current denominations
The krone, which is divided into 100 øre, has been the unit of currency in Denmark since 1875. Coins denominated in values of 1, 2, 5, 10, and 25 øre were previously minted in Denmark, but they have been withdrawn. Now, the coin with the lowest denomination in circulation is the 50 øre coin. The rest of the circulating coins have denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 krone. The Royal Mint of Denmark has also minted commemorative coins in gold in silver.
Current location
In 1975 the Danish government placed the Royal Mint under the control of the Danish Central Bank, and in 1978 the mint moved to a location on Solmarksvej in Brøndby. In March 2012 the offices of the mint were again relocated to Copenhagen, to the Danish Central Bank building on Havnegade. In October 2014, it was announced by the Danish Central Bank that coin and banknote production would cease by the Royal Danish Mint and the printing facilities at the Central Bank by the end of 2016 citing production costs and the anticipated decreasing level or demand of coins and banknotes. The Central Bank are making arrangements to tender out their production to private firms.
