Sweden Currency 20 Swedish Krona banknote 2008 Selma Lagerlöf
Obverse side of the 20 Swedish kronor is showing the portrait of Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940) received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1909. Member of the Swedish Academy from 1914. The first woman to be depicted on a Swedish banknote. Portrait engraved after a photograph by Atelier Jaeger, 1922. Image of a Värmland landscape with forest and lake, a brief extract from Gösta Berling's Saga, Selma Lagerlöf's first novel, taken from the original manuscript. The story takes place among the iron foundries and manors of Värmland, where Selma Lagerlöf had deep roots. Engraving of a horse-drawn carriage in which Selma Lagerlöf herself is one of the passengers.
Microtext: Quotation from Gösta Berling’s Saga (in translation: The lake has its source far in the north, which is a glorious land for a lake. The forests and hills gather water for it unceasingly. Streams and brooklets pour into it all the year round. It has fine white sand), written with no spaces or punctuation:
SJÖNHARSINAKÄLLORGANSKALÅNGTUPPINORR OCHDÄRÄRETTHÄRLIGTLANDFÖRENSJÖSKOGEN OCHBERGENUPPHÖRAALDRIGATTSAMLAVATTEN ÅTDENSTRÖMMAROCHBÄCKARSTÖRTANEDIDEN ÅRETOMDENHARFINVITSAND.
Reverse side of the 20 Swedish kronor is showing a passage motif from Selma Lagerlöf's book Nils Holgerssons Wonderful Journey through Sweden, with Nils and Morten goose flying over the flatlands of Skåne, in southern Sweden.
Watermark depicting the portrait on the banknote which becomes visible when you hold the banknote to the light. The denomination appears significantly lighter than the rest of the paper.
Measures: 67 x 120 millimetres
Colour: Purple
Introduced: 1997
Banknote paper: Manufactured of cotton fibres that are not fluorescent, which is to say they do not emit any light under ultraviolet light (other types of paper may emit a bluish glow).
Banknote number: shows which year the note was printed. The first digit is the last figure of the printing year. The second and third digits show which decade the note was printed, according to a special system.
Sweden Banknotes - Sweden Paper Money
1985-2012 Issue
20 Kronor 50 Kronor 100 Kronor 500 Kronor 1000 Kronor
2005 "250 Years Tumba Bruk Printing Works" Commemorative Issue