20 kroner DENMARK (2006) Towers - Three Brothers

in the coin centre inside a ring head of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark facing right; along the bottom edge year of issue: 2006; along the top edge: MARGRETHE II DANMARKS DRONNING (Margrethe II Queen of Denmark)

in the centre inside a disk Greenlandic cairns "Three Brothers"; in the background a Greenlandic symbol for the Sun; along the top edge: TRE BRØDRE (Three Brothers); along the bottom edge face value: 20 KRONER

seven plain and seven reeded sections

27 IX 2006

still circulating

Mogens Møller, Niels Motzfeldt

Den Kongelige Mønt (The Royal Mint), Copenhagen (mint mark before DANMARKS on the obverse)

2006

1 200 000

+ 8 600 in sets "Towers"

No one knows who and when set up three man-sized cairns on a tiny rocky island off the coast of western Greenland. The fact is that the Three Brothers (in Greenlandic Nukariit) stand there long enough that the island itself and dozens of surrounding islands built from the same geological formation were named Tre Brødre. These rocky islands protect sailors from high waves on the path to the capital of Greenland, Nuuk, but do not make the navigation easy. The cairns were probably supposed to function as a simple beacon, but they have become one of the symbols of Greenland.


photo: Lars Maltha Rasmussen; licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0

The coin series "Towers" (Tårnmønter) are dedicated to one of the most famous Danish architects Arne Jacobsen (1902-1971). To commemorate the 100^th anniversary of his birth a coin was struck with his most famous design - the tower of Aarhus city hall. The series continued until 2007 and it contains ten coins:

	20 kroner - City Hall in Aarhus (Århus Rådhus) (2002)
	20 kroner - Old Stock Exchange in Copenhagen (Børsen) (2003)
	20 kroner - Christiansborg Palace (2003)
	20 kroner - Goose Tower (Gåsetårnet) (2004)
	20 kroner - Water Tower in Svaneke (Svaneke Vandtårn) (2004)
	20 kroner - Church in Landet (Landet Kirke) (2005)
	20 kroner - Lighthouse on Nólsoy (Nólsoy Fyr) (2005)
	20 kroner - Gråsten Palace (Gråsten Slot) (2006)
	20 kroner - Three Brothers (Tre Brødre) (2006)
	20 kroner - City Hall in Copenhagen (Københavns Rådhus) (2007)