Seven banknotes no longer legal tender from 1999

On 1st January 1999 seven Swedish banknotes will cease to be legal tender. With one exception, the notes are part of an earlier series:

 

* The yellow 5 krona note with a portrait of King Gustav Vasa
* The blue 10 krona note with a portrait of King Gustav VI Adolf
* A blue 10 krona note issued in 1968 to commemorate the Riksbank's Tercentenary
* The yellow 50 krona note with a portrait of King Gustav III
* The lightblue 100 krona note with a portrait of King Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus)
* The blue 500 krona note from the current series (this note was replaced in 1989 by a version in red)
* The pink 1000 krona note with a portrait of King Karl XIV Johan

These notes, which can be exchanged in banks and exchange offices up to the turn of 1998, are being withdrawn by the Riksbank for a number of reasons.

- It is some time since these notes were in general circulation and people are no longer familiar with them. It is important that everyone can distinguish genuine notes from forgeries; this is easier if we remove notes that are not in general use, according to Per-Olof Arevik from the Cashiers’ Department at the Riksbank.

52 million banknotes worth a total of SEK 2.3 billion

The notes that will cease to be legal tender at the turn of 1998 number approximately 52 million and their total value is SEK 2.3 billion.The tens are most numerous, 27 million, and the 1000 krona notes are worth most, SEK 1.4 billion.

- We suspect that a great many notes have been tucked away in “mattresses” and bank boxes, particularly by elderly people, Per Olof Arevik says. Then, of course, there are all the notes that have been destroyed over the years.

High-resolution images of the banknotes can be downloaded from the Riksbank's home page at: www.riksbank.se/pressbilder.

For further information, please apply to the Cashiers’ Department:
Per-Olof Arevik, telephone +46 8 787 04 84
Mats Nilsson, telephone +46 8 787 04 85