20 Kronen 2008 "Selandia"

[Kai]

Selandia


The M/S Selandia is the motif of the third coin in the series of coins with ships as their common theme.

On 17 April 2008, Danmarks Nationalbank issues a new 20-krone coin with the M/S Selandia as its motif. This is the third coin in a series with ships as their common motif.

The coin will is presented today at the DieselHouse museum in Copenhagen. The DieselHouse is built around a Burmeister & Wain (B&W) diesel engine from 1932, which for many years was the largest diesel engine in the world.

M/S Selandia, which was built by B&W for the East Asiatic Company in 1912, was the world's first ocean-going ship powered by diesel. It marks the transition from steam ships to motor ships and was hailed as a technological wonder in its day.

However, it lacked the distinctive architectural feature of the steam ships, the large funnels. After its successful maiden voyage, M/S Selandia was followed by its sister vessels, M/S Fionia and M/S Jutlandia. After M/S Selandia grounded and sank near Japan in 1942, several other ships have borne its name. A model of M/S Selandia can also be seen at the DieselHouse.

The motif for the coin has been designed by the sculptor Torben Ebbesen, who was also the artist behind the Nightingale fairy tale coin.