The lowdown on the Icelandic króna
Up until 1918, Iceland was ruled by Denmark and followed the Danish currency, having the Danish rigsdaler up to 1874 and the Danish krone from then onwards. By 1885, Iceland was issuing its own banknotes, but the notes were still part of the Danish krone.
After the end of the Scandinavian Monetary Union in 1914, the Icelandic króna separated from the Danish krone and has been the currency of Iceland ever since. The first coins were issued in 1922. When Iceland became independent from Denmark in 1946, new coins were designed to remove the royal Danish monogram. In 1981, hyperinflation meant that the króna was revalued, with 100 old krónur (ISJ) worth one new króna (ISK).
Just like in the other Nordic countries, króna translates as ‘crown’ so you might hear the currency referred to as the Icelandic crown. It’s also nicknamed kall, and it’s worth remembering that the plural of króna is the Icelandic krónur, not krónas!
A look back at British pound to Icelandic króna rates
Before the revaluation of the króna in 1981, its value against the pound steadily decreased from around 2 krónur in 1970 to around 18 kr. Devaluing heavily throughout the 1980s, the króna had reached over 100 kr to the pound by the start of the ‘90s. However, following this, the period of economic prosperity across the 1990s in Iceland was known as the Nordic Tiger and saw the króna hover at around 130 to the pound.
The financial crisis of 2008
Towards the end of 2008, Iceland’s major banks failed and were taken over by the government, signalling a drastic end to the Nordic Tiger. The country was plunged into a financial crisis and the króna fell from Íkr150.68 against £1 on 2nd September 2008 to Íkr219.82 on 29th November. Since then, the government have worked hard to stabilise the economy and it has remained that away, although the króna has never returned to its pre-crisis rate. This is, however, great news for your pounds!
Planning a trip to Iceland soon? Take a look at our essential travel guide.
