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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;talerman, post: 4942667, member: 89314&quot;]In 1626 Gustav II Adolf of Sweden decided to intervene in the Thirty Years&#039; War raging in Germany. He shipped a large army from Livonia to Prussia and seized Elbing (today Elbląg in Poland) and various other Baltic ports, sent their treasures back to Sweden and tapped the Vistula river trade for customs duties.&nbsp; While controlling Elbing he struck coins with his coat of arms on one side and the city arms on the other, such as this one:</p><p><br /></p><p>City of ELBING&nbsp; Gustav II Adolf of Sweden (1626-32)&nbsp;&nbsp; Reichstaler 1628</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1188166[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1188167[/ATTACH] The Swedish king in due course became heavily involved in Germany on the Protestant side and was finally killed at the battle of Lützen in 1632.&nbsp; His successor, Queen Christina, signed the Treaty of Stuhmsdorf in 1635 with Wladyslaw IV (Ladislaus in German, sometimes Vladislav in English, take your pick), King of Poland, under pressure from other major powers.&nbsp; Elbing and the other Baltic ports were restored to Poland in return for the confirmation of Christina&#039;s rule in Livonia. </p><p><br /></p><p>On January 12 1636 the city paid formal homage to King Wladyslaw, who recognized their traditional privileges in return for 100,000 zlotys (or gulden) as compensation for betraying him during the Swedish invasion (not that they had any choice). The city also struck this Stuhmsdorf Peace Taler to commemorate the occasion. It is a beautiful coin and has two interesting special features.&nbsp; It has two dates on the obverse, 1635 (the year of the treaty) at the top and 1636 ( the year of Wladyslaw&#039;s visit) below the arms divided by the wings of the dragonfly (I am not quite sure if that is the correct insect).&nbsp;&nbsp; Secondly, Wladyslaw was descended on his father&#039;s side from the Swedish royal family and the reverse legend includes the titles of hereditary king of Sweden, Gotland and Vandalia, despite the fact that Wladyslaw had agreed at Stuhmsdorf to drop his claim during the 26 year life of the treaty.</p><p><br /></p><p>City of ELBING&nbsp; Stuhmsdorf Peace Taler 1635/6</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1188169[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1188170[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>This was not the end of the story. The Swedes would be back !&nbsp; Another Swedish king, Karl X Gustav, took Elbing in 1655 and held it until 1660. His grandson, Karl XII, captured Elbing in 1703 and held it till 1710.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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