1/2 Riksdaler Specie - Oscar I

Oscar I ascended the Swedish throne in 1844 determined to modernize the kingdom's finances, but the riksdaler monetary system he inherited was a chaotic tangle of parallel currencies — riksdaler riksgälds, riksdaler banco, and riksdaler specie traded at different rates simultaneously, creating chronic confusion in daily commerce. This specie denomination represented the highest-value accounting unit of the three, worth roughly four times the riksgälds note of the same face value.

The .750 fineness was a deliberate step down from earlier Swedish silver coinage, reflecting post-Napoleonic fiscal conservatism that persisted across Scandinavian mints well into the 1850s.