1/4 Riksdaler - Frederick I 2nd portrait

Frederick I came to the Swedish throne in 1720 as something of a compromise candidate — a Hessian prince elevated largely because the Riksdag had resolved, after Charles XII's ruinous wars, that the monarchy would never again wield unchecked power. The "2nd portrait" designation distinguishes this issue from the earlier coinage struck at his accession, reflecting a re-engraved effigy introduced partway through his reign.

Sweden's finances in the early 1720s were still recovering from the Great Northern War, and silver coinage of this period was tightly managed by a Riksdag that held the real authority.