20 kroner DENMARK (2008) Ships - Langskip Havhingsten

in the coin centre inside a ring head of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark facing right; along the bottom edge year of issue: 2008; along the top edge: MARGRETHE II DANMARKS DRONNING (Margrethe II Queen of Denmark)

in the centre inside a disk langskip Havhingsten sails rightwards; in the background on the horizon Roskilde Cathedral; along the top edge: HAVHINGSTEN; along the bottom edge face value: 20 KRONER

seven plain and seven reeded sections

8 VIII 2008

still circulating

Mogens Møller, Erik Varming

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

2008

1 200 000

Seagoing langskips were the longest Viking boats, so that they were able to sail up to the coast of Greenland, and probably Nova Scotia. In 1962, a burial place of five Viking boats was discovered on the shore of Roskilde fjord. Boats of different sizes were made of wood coming from different parts of Europe. The largest, 30-meter boat was built of Irish wood in ca. 1,042. In 2000, the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde, which was created as a result of the discovery, decided to build a replica of the ship. In honor of the origin of the boat the replica was named "fra Glendalough Havhingsten" (literally "Sea Stallion from Glendalough (Valley), Ireland), and in 2004 it was launched by the godmother - Queen Margrethe II. In July 2007, after a few test trips along the Norwegian coast, the boat went "back" to Ireland. After traveling 1,200 nautical miles the Havhingsten reached Dublin. The commemorative coin with face value 20 kroner from 2008 marks the return of the boat to Roskilde on August 9, 2008.

Havhingsten fra Glendalough arrives to Dublin.


photo: William Murphy; licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0

The coin series "Ships" (Skibsmønter) presents Denmark as a country of sailors. This series was inspired by a successful scientific expedition Galathea III, which was commemorated with a coin with the frigate Vædderen. The National Bank of Denmark issued 12 commemorative coins in this thematic series:

	20 kroner - frigate Vædderen (2007)
	20 kroner - frigate Jylland (2007)
	20 kroner - motor ship Selandia (2008)
	20 kroner - langskip Havhingsten (2008)
	20 kroner - royal yacht Dannebrog (2008)
	20 kroner - lightship Fyrskib XVII (2009)
	20 kroner - Faroese boat (Færøbåd) (2009)
	20 kroner - kayak and umiak (Kajak - Konebåd) (2010)
	20 kroner - container ship Emma Mærsk (2011)
	20 kroner - steamboat Hjejlen (2011)
	20 kroner - ferry Kong Frederik IX (2012)
	20 kroner - fishing vessel (Fiskekutter) (2012)