Sweden (1448-70) ortug
This specimen was lot 11210 in Stack's Bowers Collectors Choice Online Auction (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2025), where it sold for €840 (about US$876). The catalog description[1] noted, "SWEDEN. Örtug, ND (1448-70). Stockholm Mint. Karl Knutsson Bonde. NGC AU-50. Variation without star i[n] obverse shield. From the L. E. Bruun Collection." Karl Knutsson Bonde (c. 1408–1470), also known as Charles VIII, was King of Sweden (1448–1457, 1464–1465 and 1467–1470) and King of Norway (1449–1450), during the era of the Kalmar Union. Wikipedia comments,
"Örtug or ortig was a medieval currency unit in Sweden. It was originally minted as a silver coin in 1370 during the reign of king Albert of Sweden. The coin weighed about 1.3 grams and consisted of 81% silver. As time passed, the örtug was debased: during the reign of Eric of Pomerania, the örtug contained 0.88 grams of silver; under Christian I, 0.7 grams; and in 1534 only 0.54 grams of silver. During the reign of Gustav Vasa (1523–1560), the monetary system of Sweden was reformed: an örtug was now subdivided into 12 pennings, not 8 as before, while still valued as one third of an öre."
One mark = 24 örtug. This örtug was also struck at Söderköping and Åbo.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.92 g, billon, this specimen 1.39 g.
Catalog reference: Delzanno-345; Lagerqvist 3a; Bruun-11305.
- Bjorne Ahlström, Yngve Almer and Bengt Hemmingson, Sveriges Mynt, 1521-1977, the Coinage of Sweden. Stockholm: Numismatika Bokforlaget AB, 1976.
- Delzanno, Roberto, Myntårsboken 2022, Sveriges Mynt 995-2021, 1:a upplagen, Stockholm, 2021.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, February 2025 World Collectors Choice Online Auction - Ancients, World Coins & World Paper Money, David B. Simpson Medals & World Coins Part 1, Selections from the Richard Margolis Collection, and Selections from the L. E. Bruun Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.
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