Danish krone

The krone (Danish: [ˈkʰʁoːnə]; plural: kroner; sign: kr.; code: DKK) is the official currency of the Kingdom of Denmark (comprising Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands), introduced on 1 January 1875. Both the ISO code "DKK" and currency sign "kr." are in common use; the former precedes the value, the latter in some contexts follows it. The currency is sometimes referred to as the Danish crown in English, since krone literally means crown. Krone coins have been minted in Denmark since the 17th century. One krone is subdivided into 100 øre (Danish pronunciation: [ˈøːɐ]; singular and plural), the name øre is probably derived from the Latin word for gold. Altogether there are ten denominations of the krone, with the smallest being the 50 øre coin (one half of a krone). Formerly there were more øre coins, but those were discontinued due to inflation. The krone is pegged to the euro via the ERM II, the European Union's exchange rate mechanism. Adoption of the euro is favoured by some of the major political parties; however, a 2000 referendum on joining the eurozone was defeated with 53.2% voting to maintain the krone and 46.8% voting to join the eurozone.