Riga (16)38 solidus
This specimen was lot 11037 in Stack's Bowers June 2026 World Premier Collectors Choice Auction (Copenhagen, June 2026), where it sold for €129 (about US$149). The catalog description[1] noted, "SWEDEN. Swedish Livonia. Riga. Solidus, 1638. Riga Mint. Kristina. NGC AU-55. Attractive example showing plenty of luster on the surfaces. From the L.E. Bruun Collection." This type was struck 1635-54, most with two digit dates. Struck on roller dies, many of these have off-center reverses. It is a city issue ("SOLIDVS C·RIGENSIS"), not a provincial issue ("SOLIDUS LIVONIAE") for which, see KM 2. Riga and Livonia were seized by Sweden from Poland in 1621 and retained by them until their loss to Russia in 1721.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 0.54 g, billon, 15 mm diameter, this specimen 0.66 g.
Catalog reference: KM-21 (listed under Livonia); SB-57; Bruun-11942.
- Bjorne Ahlström, Yngve Almer and Bengt Hemmingson, Sveriges Mynt, 1521-1977, the Coinage of Sweden. Stockholm: Numismatika Bokförlaget AB, 1976.
- Delzanno, Roberto, Myntårsboken 2022, Sveriges Mynt 995-2021, 1:a upplagen, Stockholm, 2021.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, June 2026 World Premier Collectors Choice Auction - Selections from the L.E. Bruun Collection, the Richard Margolis Collection and the Kirk Menczer Collection of Republican Reales Minors, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2026.
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