ABSTRACT
Sources: FRIIS/GLAMANN [1958], vol. I, pp. 66-103 (1696-1789); Erhvervsarkivet Århus, [Københavns] Fondsbørs, Protokol for vekselkurser og diskonto, 1789, 11. Dec.–1802; ibid., 1803-1809; ibid., 1811-1872; ibid., 1872, 1. Marts-1880 (Cours-Noterings-Protocol); ibid., 1881-1891, 3. Mar.; ibid., 1891, 6. Mar.–1899, 1. Aug.; ibid., 1899, 4. Aug.–1906, 11. Dec.; ibid., 1906, 14. Dec.–1915, 24. Dec. (1789-1914); KELLY [1811] II, p. 90 (1806). Concordance: WdW XI, pp. 19-69. Concerning the quotations on London up to 1775 see also MCCUSKER [1978], pp. 32-86
Currency: Although the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark was the rixdollar specie (speciedaler; 25.28 grammes of pure silver) of 6 mark or 96 shillings from 1625, the actual standard monetary unit was the rixdollar Danish current (rigsdaler kurantmønt; 20.57 grammes of pure silver) of 96 shillings (skilling) from the end of the 17th century. It was fixed that 48 rixdollars specie = 59 rixdollars current or 1 rixdollar specie = 118 shillings current but in everyday business the rixdollar species had a value of 120 shillings Danish current or 1¼ rixdollars current, which resulted in the common relation of 4 rixdollars specie = 5 rixdollars current. From 1737 the kurantbanken issued notes on a large scale but they were only convertible into current money for a few years (from 1737 until October 16th 1745 and from March 1747 until 1757). As the quotation of Copenhagen on Hamburg from the second half of the 18th century explicitly proves, the increasing amount of paper money caused a remarkable stock market loss of the Danish currency on the Hamburg money market which was of central importance for the Kingdom. First attempts at stabilizing the Danish currency against the Hamburg monetary system were initiated during the late 1780s, but owing to constantly new issues of paper money, especially during the Napoleonic era, they remained unsuccessful.
