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Message:: [QUOTE="Jimski, post: 3176460, member: 77373"]1592 Sweden ½ öre, Johan III, silver 1.8% fine, 0.001 oz. This coin is the first of 3 coins I bought that were inspired by this thread, and extend my dated coins into the 16 century.  All 3 coins extend my Scandinavian öre/øre collection.  This collection began with my interest in the Sweden, Denmark, and Norway öre/øre minted with unusual metals during WWI and WWII, when iron and zinc replaced bronze.  The collection eventually followed the history of the denomination back in time.<blockquote>Going back in time, the history of the öre/øre becomes the history of the öre.  This is because, the Sweden öre denomination was adopted in 1873, in name and value {4}, by the Scandinavian Monetary Union of Sweden, Denmark, add later Norway for the minor unit of the Union’s currency (designated öre/Sweden, øre Denmark & Norway). The major unit was the krona/krone. All three members minted their own coinage of their own design, but all were pegged to the same gold standard and traded at par. The Union dissolved after WWI, when the gold standard was dropped, but each country continued to mint the denominations which no longer traded at par.</blockquote>[ATTACH=full]817503[/ATTACH]The central design on the obverse is the coat of arms of the House of Vasa, which is a sheaf of wheat. The Vasa Dynasty ruled Sweden from 1523 to 1654.  Its founder Gustav Vasa (1523–1560) led Sweden to independence - from the Kalmar Union of Sweden, Denmark and Norway that was dominated by Denmark monarchs.  He’s considered the father of modern Sweden. During Gustav Vasa’s reign, a monetary system based on coins was established for the first time in Sweden.  The former mark and öre accounting units were then populated by coin.  The territorial acquisitions of Gustav Adolf’s reign (1611–1632) mark the beginning of the Swedish Empire.<blockquote>{3} The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Sweden's territorial control of much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries, a time when Sweden was one of the great European powers. The beginning of the Empire is usually taken as the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, who ascended the throne in 1611, and the end as the loss of territories in 1721 following the Great Northern War. In Swedish history, the period is referred to as stormaktstiden, literally meaning "the Great Power era". </blockquote>I especially love the obverse photo of this coin. The break, the color or tone, the details in the corrosion, the still high relief and the prominent details of the device, draw me to reflect on its journey over the last 400+ years.[ATTACH=full]817505[/ATTACH]The coinage of 1592 holds an infamous place in Sweden History. 1592 is the year of the worst debased coinage in Swedish history. The coinage of 1592 was debased to about 10% of its nominal intrinsic value.  The ½ öre nominal silver content would have been 20%, in 1592 it was debased to about 1.8%. {2} There are multiple references indicating the worst inflation in Swedish history occurred during Johan III’s reign, as Johan sought to finance wars with Denmark, and Russia by debasing his coinage and increasing mintage numbers.  There were 2 periods of inflation: 1561-1576 which coincided with the Northern Seven Years War (against a coalition of Denmark/Norway, Lübeck and Poland), and 1590-1593 which coincided with the Russo-Swedish War of 1590–95.  1592 saw the height of debasement of the coinage.[ATTACH=full]817508[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]817509[/ATTACH] According to {2}, the debasement of the ½ öre “clearly reflects in the production volume and the high copper content of the half öre from 1592” (see mintage number at arrow below).[ATTACH=full]817511[/ATTACH] Johan III died in 1592, and Sigismund I Vasa (also Sigismund III Vasa of Poland) ascended the throne of Sweden. Under Sigismund, in 1593 and 1594, debased coins were exchanged for new coins of the correct intrinsic value.  The debased coinage were not exchanged at face, but at a reduced value. According to {1},“The fine silver content of the most inferior klipping-mark in 1592 was almost one tenth of the new silver mark minted in 1593 … Still in 1593, the confidence in money had not yet been restored” My coin certainly looks more like copper than silver, but even though the silver content is 1.8% for this coin, some high points have been scraped revealing a silver color beneath the corrosion. {1} The multiple currencies of Sweden-Finland 1534-1803, by Rodney Edvinsson Stockholm Papers in Economic History No. 7, Department of Economic History Stockholm University 2009 <a href="http://www.historia.se/SPEH7.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.historia.se/SPEH7.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.historia.se/SPEH7.pdf</a> {2} Andreas Myntsida (Andreas Coin Page), Johan III:s ½-öresmynt (about Johan III's ½-ore coin). “Welcome to my coin page. The purpose of the coin page is to compile a variant list of Johan III's halves and to present information about these coins. On the page there is also my variation collection. “ (translated from Swedish by Google) <a href="https://www.andreasmyntsida.se/johan-iii-halvore/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.andreasmyntsida.se/johan-iii-halvore/" rel="nofollow">https://www.andreasmyntsida.se/johan-iii-halvore/</a> {3} <a href="https://www.spottinghistory.com/historicalperiod/swedish-empire-sweden/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.spottinghistory.com/historicalperiod/swedish-empire-sweden/" rel="nofollow">https://www.spottinghistory.com/historicalperiod/swedish-empire-sweden/</a> {4} Prior to the Scandinavian Monetary Union, the Swedish riksdaler = 100 öre.  When the Union was adopted, 1 krone/krona = 1 Swedish riksdaler, and 1 krone/krona = 100 öre.  So the value of the Swedish öre did not change when the Scandinavian Monetary Union was adopted.[/QUOTE]

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