20-KRONE COIN COMMEMORATING VOYAGES TO VINLAND - A COLLABORATION WITH CANADA.

A 20-krone coin har been designed by Norwegian sculptur Nils Aas to commemorate Viking voyages to Vinland. The coin is legal tender, and is being issued at face value.

In 1960, Helge Ingstad's systematic search of extensive stretches of the coast of North America culminated in the discovery of seven overgrown house foundations at L'Anse aux Meadows, at the northernmost point of Newfoundland, Canada. Under the direction of his wife, the archaeologist Anne Stine Ingstad, an Old Norse habitation site was brought to light at the location.

This is believed to be the site of the first Viking landing in North America - called Vinland in the sagas. In his book "The Viking Discovery of America", Ingstad writes that the first voyages probably took place around the year 1000, or slightly earlier.

In 1998, Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien wrote to Kjell Magne Bondevik, the prime minister of Norway, proposing that Canada and Norway each issue a coin in 1999 to commemorate the fact that it was about a thousand years since this landing took place.

As a result of this collaboration, the Royal Canadian Mint is minting a coin with a nominal value of CAD 5 to commemorate the event, and the Royal Norwegian Mint a 20-krone coin. 36 000 coins are being struck especially for collectors, and will be sold in pairs in two different presentation cases, one Canadian and one Norwegian. 16 000 of the sets are destined for the Canadian market and 10 000 for the Norwegian market.

The production of the coins is also a joint effort, since the blanks for the Canadian coins are being produced at Kongsberg, Norway, and are identical to the blanks from which the Norwegian coins are being...