A recent word study brought me to the Icelandic currency, the króna. The study began with the study of <crown>. Króna is derived from the Latin corona which mean crown. Many words actually are derived from this Latin root, including <crown>, <coroner> and possibly even influenced <colonel>.
Iceland was previously under Danish rule. The Dutch currency, the krone, was comprised of 100 øre coins. Their Dutch word øre is believed to be derived from Latin’s aureus meaning “gold coin.” Iceland used the aurar to make up the króna. The singular of aurar is eyrir. So one eyrir is worth 1/100 of a single króna. Unfortunately the króna is fairly devalued, so the aurar is no longer in circulation. In fact at the time of this writing one US dollar was worth 107 króna. The highest denomination of paper money is 10,000 króna which is around 93 US dollars at this time.
Another linguistic note of pluralization is the distinction that króna is singular and krónur is plural. Just like one can have one dollar or ten dollars. It is one króna or ten krónur. The abbreviation for the króna is ISK (Íslensk króna). The <IS> signifies Iceland and the <K> is the krónur. Sometimes in Iceland, the abbreviation is just <kr> for króna. It is 2388 kr for this scarf. The <IS> differentiation is needed from other countries who use the krona or krone with an abbreviation of K or even kr. In Denmark there is the Danish Krone (DKK). Sweden uses the Swedish Krona (SEK), while Norway has the Norwegian Krone (NOK).
Lastly, I wanted to discuss the picture of the 1000kr banknote at the top of this page. The number for 1000 is þúsund. While it may appear that the first letter is an English <p>, it is in fact a thorn. Note how the round part is half way down the vertical line, which is what distinguishes it from the English <p>. This is a letter in modern Iceland and it was present in Old English. It is translated into English as <th> with the pronunciation /θ/ or /ð/. So, the Icelandic spelling is not all that different than English equipped with some knowledge.
Despite all this discussion about the króna, actually very little paper krónur are actually used. Most natives use cards for monetary transactions. Much of their currency is pictured with fish due to the high fishing in their country. As with most country’s currency, it shows their history and their connections with others.
References
“FAQs on Travel to Scandinavia | Scandinavian American World Tours.” ScanAm World Tours, ScanAm World Tours, www.scandinaviantravel.com/faqs/.
Feldmann, Michael. “Icelandic Currency.” Island Reiseführer, Eldey, www.eldey.de/English/icelandic-currency/icelandic-currency.html.
Guðmundsson , Rögnvaldur. “Money, Money, Money – Everything You Need to Know About the Icelandic Króna.” What’s On in Reykjavik, Iceland, What’s On in Reykjavik, Iceland, 9 Sept. 2016, www.whatson.is/money-money-money-everything-need-know-icelandic-krona/.