There are two kinds of 20-kronor banknote. The blue, slightly larger note was introduced in 1992 and will become invalid with effect from 1 January 2006. See the link to the press release "Information on Riksdag decision to declare some older banknotes and coins invalid" below.
The purple, slightly smaller note was introduced in 1997 and will remain legal tender.
1. The portrait of Selma Lagerlöf is an engraving from a photograph taken in 1922. A Värmland landscape can be glimpsed in the background.
2. The introduction to Gösta Berling's Saga is from the original manuscript. The initial letter is from the first edition of the book.
3. There is an engraved horse and carriage, with Selma Lagerlöf herself as one of the passengers.
4. A brief extract from Gösta Berling's Saga. The vertical micro lettering describes the Värmland landscape.
5. A passage from Nils Holgersson's Wonderful Journey through Sweden, when Nils flies over the flatlands of Skåne, southern Sweden.
6. The background of arable and pastureland consists of various machine-drawn guilloche patterns - fine lines - using offset printing.
The notes measure 72 x 130 millimetres and 67 x 120 millimetres. The number of banknotes in circulation as at 1 January 2001 was approximately 73 million, amounting to a value of around SEK 1.5 billion.
The main motif on the 20-krona banknote is a portrait of the writer Selma Lagerlöf. The portrait is an engraving of a photograph taken by Jaegers studio in 1922. Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940) received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1909 and was a member of the Swedish Academy from 1914. She is the first woman to have been depicted on a Swedish banknote.
The face of the banknote contains the introduction to Gösta Berlings Saga, her first novel. The introduction is taken partly from the author's original manuscript and partly from the first edition's initial letters. The story is set in the Värmland mill and country estate environment where she herself grew up.
In the background you can see a stylised landscape from Värmland, showing a forest and a lake. This theme is also taken up in the micro lettering that runs along the right-hand edge of the banknote, which translates as follows:
SJÖN HAR SINA KÄLLOR GANSKA LÅNGT UPP I NORR OCH DÄR ÄR ETT HÄRLIGT LAND FÖR EN SJÖ. SKOGEN OCH BERGEN UPPHÖRA ALDRIG ATT SAMLA VATTEN ÅT DEN. STRÖMMAR OCH BÄCKAR STÖRTA NED I DEN ÅRET OM. DEN HAR FIN VIT SAND.
(The lake has its sources far up in the north, and the country is a perfect country for a lake. The forest and the mountains are always collecting water for it; tiny rivers and brooks stream into it the whole year around. It has fine white sand.) This text is taken from Gösta Berlings Saga. The spaces and punctuation marks are left out of the micro lettering.
On the face of the note there is also an engraved vignette of a horse and carriage, with Selma Lagerlöf as passenger, as well as a brief extract from the first edition of Gösta Berlings Saga.
On the reverse of the note the motif is a depiction of a passage from Selma Lagerlöf's book Nils Holgersson's Wonderful Journey Through Sweden, with Nils and Mårten goose flying over the flatlands of Skåne, in southern Sweden.
You can see from the banknote number which year the note was printed. The first figure is the same as the last figure in the year of printing. The second and third figures show the decade the note was printed, in accordance with a special code.