Penning, Svealand, Knut Eriksson, 1167–1196
19 Svealand whole pennings were found in the Skänninge grave, which bear the image of the king wearing an open cloak over his shoulders. In one hand the king is holding a sceptre, in the other perhaps a church tower, defence tower or reliquary.
The letters VIA have been interpreted as the first word in the Latin via regia, which means the king’s road. If so, this coin would have been issued by the king. Another interpretation is that the abbreviation IVA stands for Iohannes Vpsaliensis Archiepiscopus, Archbishop Johannes of Uppsala. However, this interpretation of the letters is uncertain because the other coins issued by the archbishop looked different.
