Plate coin

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Plate coin worth 8 dalers.
½ Daler coin from 1711

A plate coin ( Plåtmynt in Swedish ) is a coin in the shape of a large copper plate that was made in Sweden .

Plate coins were made in Sweden between 1644 and 1768. Sweden was one of the most important producers of copper during this period , while gold and silver were rather scarce. In order for the value of the coin to be covered by the metal, the coins had to be very heavy. The plate coins saved the minting of hundreds of individual coins and counting them for larger payments.

At that time, rectangular copper plates were produced and then the initials of the ruler and the year of mint were stamped on the four corners with mint stamps and in the middle the value in the unit silver thaler , the name of the mint master and partly the place of origin of the copper, partly the place of mint. The copper plate coins were minted in the denominations of half a thaler, one thaler, two thaler, four thaler, eight thaler and ten thaler. The 10 thaler plate coin is often referred to as the largest and heaviest coin in the world (although today it is surpassed by a few exclusive investment coins such as the Big Maple Leaf ). It measures 33 cm × 68 cm and weighs 19.75 kg. The Kungliga Myntkabinett (Royal Coin Cabinet) in Stockholm next to the Royal Palace has its own exhibition on these coins. The 10 thaler plate coin from 1644 shown in the exhibition was recovered in 1974 from a ship that sank in 1646 in the Gryt archipelago near Östergötland . The plate coins lost their legal tender status in 1777.

Web links

Individual proof

  1. The Royal Coin Cabinet: A brief introduction to the exhibitions , page 2 (German-language short guide, as it was distributed to visitors in the summer of 2015.) and The Royal Coin Cabinet: The Museums hidden Treasures , Section 8: The largest coin (English-language brochure , As of August 2015)