Sweden 1663 ore KM-232.1
This specimen was lot 3680 in Stephen Album sale 39 (Santa Rosa, CA, January 2021), where it sold for $66. The catalog description[1] noted, "SWEDEN: Karl XI, 1660-1697, AE öre, 1663, small edge defect, usual planchet roughness, F-VF, S, ex Dr. John Lund Collection." The low value coinage was struck either to the koppar mynt or the silber mynt standard. Before 1633, one öre silver mynt = two öre koppar mynt but the öre silver mynt (S.M.) was raised to 2½ öre koppar mynt (K.M.) and later three öre K.M. The exchange rate was likely theoretical as Sweden was completely denuded of silver to pay for her constant wars. Sweden relied on her large supply of copper but the price of that metal was steadily falling throughout the seventeenth century. This issue of the Avesta mint, struck 1661-64, is fairly common in low grade. It is marked K.M.
Karl XI succeeded to the throne in 1660 at the age of four. He was not crowned until 1672, being under the regency of his mother and the Estates. In 1675, he found himself embroiled in war with Denmark which, by firm leadership and good luck, he won. The treaty of Fontainebleau of 1679 ended his last foreign war and he spent the rest of his reign reforming the army and restoring the royal finances. He died of cancer in 1697, aged 41 years.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 17.7 g, copper, 34 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-232.1, SM-338.
- Bjorne Ahlström, Yngve Almer and Bengt Hemmingson, Sveriges Mynt, 1521-1977, the Coinage of Sweden. Stockholm: Numismatika Bokforlaget AB, 1976.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Delzanno, Roberto, Myntårsboken 2022, Sveriges Mynt 995-2021, 1:a upplagen, Stockholm, 2021.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 39, featuring the John Sylvester, Jr., Collection of Annamese Medals and Orders, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2020.
Link to:
- 1660 largesse 1/3 riksdaler, on the death of Karl X Gustav = 4 mark
- 1660 largesse 2/3 riksdaler, on the death of Karl X Gustav = 8 mark
- 1661 2½ öre K.M.
- 1661-GW 2 mark
- 1662 copper öre
- 1662-GW öre
- 1662 copper 2 öre
- 1663 copper 2 öre, Avesta mint
- 1664 billon öre, Stockholm mint
- 1664 copper öre
- 1664-IK 2 mark
- 1665-IK 2 öre
- Coins and currency dated 1663