Matthew Patay's
Note of the Month
September 2001
This month's featured note
is from Norway.
The denomination is 200 Kroner and the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money
(SCWPM) Number is P-48a.
The following descriptive information for the banknote was obtained from the Bank of Norway website.
(obverse)
The banknote is blue and multicolored. The motif on the obverse of the
note is a portrait of Kristian Birkeland (1867-1917). The northern lights
rising upwards toward the North Star are the central feature of the background. We
also find the well-known constellations such as Little Bear (Ursa Minor) and the
Big Dipper. Birkeland's "Terrella" where he produced artificial northern
lights is depicted in the area containing the watermarks. Birkeland
demonstrated that when plasma escapes from the sun and travels through space,
the earth's magnetic field compresses it on the daylight side of the earth and
stretches it into a tail on the night side, ultimately producing the northern
lights. The snow crystal symbolizes winter, the time of year when northern
lights are most visible.
The note is dated 1994.
(reverse)
The reverse side of the note is based on the northern lights that are visible
during the day. Whereas the northern lights on our side of the earth are
visible along the coast of northern Norway at night, they are visible over
Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, during the day
Discovery of the auroral oval and the northern lights on the day side of the
earth is one of the most sensational results of modern space research. The
illustrations in the lower right hand corner of the note depict Birkeland's
thoughts about the orientation of electric currents in connection with the
northern lights. Currents near the auroral arcs flow parallel to the
ground, while those that are higher up flow along the earth's magnetic field
lines. These currents are called Birkeland Currents.