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1/2 Speciedaler - Oscar II
| Issuer | Kongsberg Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1873 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Uncrowned, bare-headed bust of King Oscar II facing right, with full beard and naturalistically rendered curly hair, occupying the central field. The effigy is rendered in high relief in a classical academic style. The upper legend reads OSCAR II NORGES SVER. G. V. KONGE, and the lower legend along the rim reads BRODERFOLKENES VEL, both separated by small five-pointed stars. The entire design is enclosed within a beaded border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Oscar II had been king for less than a year when this piece was struck — he acceded to the Swedish-Norwegian throne in September 1872 following the death of Karl XV. The speciedaler series was already living on borrowed time; Norway's currency reform of 1875 abolished the speciedaler entirely in favor of the krone, placing this 1873 issue among the final emissions of a denomination that had anchored Norwegian silver coinage since the 17th century.
Kongsberg's silver came from the famous Kongsberg mines, which by the 1870s were well past peak production but still supplied the mint directly.