The krona (Swedish: [ˈkrûːna] ⓘ; plural: kronor; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the currency of the Kingdom of Sweden.

[4] The introduction of the krona, which replaced the riksdaler at par, was a result of the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which came into effect in 1876 and lasted until the beginning of World War I.

The parties to the union were the Scandinavian countries, where the name was krona in Sweden and krone in Denmark and Norway, which in English literally means "crown".

While their gold parities remained during most of the interwar period, these currencies were generally quoted at varying market rates.

[11] The 2-kronor coins contained 40% silver until 1966, which meant they had been for several years worth much more than face value, so most have been bought and melted down by arbitrageurs, and the rest are kept by collectors.

Coins minted before 1974 have the same size, but contain the portrait of King Gustav VI Adolf and his royal motto.

A 20-kronor banknote (a new denomination) was printed 1991–1995 with a portrait of the writer Selma Lagerlöf and on the reverse was an engraved interpretation of a passage from the book The Wonderful Adventures of Nils.

A 50-kronor banknote (3rd design since 1896) was printed 1996–2003 with a portrait of the singer Jenny Lind and on the reverse was a picture of a silver harp and its tonal range.

A 100-kronor banknote (3rd design since 1898) was printed 1986–2000 with a portrait of the botanist Carl Linnaeus and on the reverse was a drawing of a bee pollinating a flower.

A 500-kronor banknote (a new denomination) in a blue shade was introduced in 1985 with a portrait of King Charles XI and on the reverse an engraving depicts Christopher Polhem, the "father of Swedish engineering".

The third design with portrait of King Charles XIV John and Jöns Jacob Berzelius (printed 1976–1988) and declared invalid on 31 December 1998.

Replacement banknotes featuring Dag Hammarskjöld became valid on 1 October 2015, but were circulated in considerably fewer quantities (less than 3.5 million), thus reducing the supply of cash in Sweden.

[29] Opera singer Malena Ernman has criticized the Riksbank for choosing a design where Birgit Nilsson was depicted performing Die Walküre by Richard Wagner.

She pointed out that it was very inappropriate to include something by Wagner, whose works were associated with Nazi Germany, in a time of increasing problems with antisemitism in Sweden.

[30] Dagens Nyheter journalist Björn Wiman went further in his criticism, condemning the Riksbank for selecting Nilsson at all for the 500-kronor banknote.

[31] To see where Swedish krona ranks in "most traded currencies", read the article on the Foreign exchange market.

The exchange rate of the Swedish krona against other currencies has historically been dependent on the monetary policy pursued by Sweden at the time.

The weakness in the euro was due to the crisis in Greece which began in July 2012 and fear of further spreading to Italy and Spain.

According to the 1994 accession treaty (effective 1 January 1995), Sweden is required to join the eurozone and therefore must convert to the euro once the convergence criteria are met.

Notwithstanding this, on 14 September 2003, a consultative Swedish referendum was held on the euro, in which 56% of voters were opposed to the adoption of the currency, out of an overall turnout of 82.6%.

By simply not joining the exchange rate mechanism, the Swedish government is provided a formal loophole avoiding the theoretical requirement of adopting the euro.

In February 2009, Fredrik Reinfeldt, the prime minister of Sweden, stated that a new referendum on the euro issue will not be held until support is gained from the people and all the major parties.

He added, the request of Mona Sahlin, former leader of the Social Democratic Party, for deferral of a new referendum until after the 2010 mandate period should be respected.

According to Bank for International Settlements the last year Sweden was surpassed in cash on a per capita basis converted to United States dollars by the US in 1993, the Euro Area in 2003, Australia in 2007, Canada in 2009, United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia in 2013, South Korea in 2014, Russia in 2016, and Mexico in 2019.

As of 2019 Sweden was still circulating more cash per person (converted to USD) than Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, India, Indonesia, and South Africa.

The tables show the value of the banknotes and coins per capita for participating countries on Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI).

Speculation about Sweden declaring all banknotes and coins invalid at some future date is widespread in the media with Björn Ulvaeus as a celebrity advocate of a cashless Sweden which he believes will result in a safer society because simple robbery will involve stealing goods that must be fenced.

According to Skingsley, "what some consumers, smaller companies and local clubs often see as a problem, is not so much getting hold of cash, but being able to deposit it in a bank account."

To see how circulation of the Swedish krona ranks compared to other currencies see Bank for International Settlements#Red Books.

[41] In December 2020, Sweden's Minister for Financial Markets Per Bolund announced a government review to explore the feasibility of moving to a digital currency that was expected to be completed by the end of November in 2022.