2 riksdaler specie, Sveriges rikes ständers bank, 1777
In 1777, Johan Liljencrantzthe Minister of Finance, implemented what is known as currency devaluation (coinage reform). For a long time, exchanging banknotes for silver coins was both impossible and prohibited – Sweden had what is known as a paper monetary standard. Things were really chaotic. Before the coinage reform, we used ducats, riksdaler specie, riksdaler hamburger banco, daler silvermynt, daler kopparmynt, daler carolin and daler courant. And there were major problems with counterfeit money, too.
To remedy this awful situation, large numbers of silver coins were minted as early as 1766 in order to facilitate the introduction of the new coinage system, which involved a return to a silver monetary standard in place of the paper standard. Sweden was now set to have a single coin – the Riksdaler, which was divided into 48 skillings.
The coinage reform meant it was once more possible to exchange banknotes for coins. The older banknotes were exchanged at a rate of 1 Riksdaler specie for 18 Daler kopparmynt. So the older banknotes had lost more than half of their value since the 1710s. This explains why this is referred to as currency devaluation.
)Object number: 802888_KMK
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