Catalog
12 Schillingar Banco / Skillingiä
| Issuer | Riksens Ständers Wäxel-Banque |
|---|---|
| Year | 1834-1849 |
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| Currency | Riksdaler Banco (1776-1858) |
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| Obverse description | Plain typeset note with no pictorial vignette, the face dominated by letterpress text in Swedish and Finnish. The denomination "Sch: 12 B:co." appears at the upper centre above the main text body, which opens with a decorative initial capital and states the obligation of Riksens Ständers Wäxel-Banque to the bearer. Below the main paragraph the denomination is repeated in full in both Swedish ("Tolf Schillingar Banco") and Finnish ("Karitoisita Kymmendä Skillingiä"), followed by a penalty clause in smaller type. The place and date "Stockholm den" with manuscript day and year appear mid-note, with two manuscript signatures at the foot and a manuscript serial number at the top. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Sch: 12 B:co. Tolf Schillingar Banco äro uti Riksens Ständers Wäxel-Banque insatte, som Sedelhafwaren emot denna Sedel af Banquen utbefommer. Stockholm den Tolf Schillingar Banco. Karitoisita Kymmendä Skillingiä. |
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| Comments |
The Riksens Ständers Wäxel-Banque — the Estates of the Realm's Exchange Bank — was the Swedish parliamentary bank that eventually became Sveriges Riksbank, making it one of the oldest central banks in the world. By the 1830s it was issuing notes in the old *skilling banco* denomination system, a unit tied to the banco standard rather than the specie standard, which created persistent confusion in everyday commerce since the two did not exchange at par.
The bilingual denomination — Swedish and Finnish — reflects the political reality of the period: Finland had been ceded to Russia in 1809 but Swedish-language banking instruments continued to circulate there under separate arrangements. The 12 skilling banco denomination was a workhorse of small transactions, and surviving examples from the full fifteen-year run of this type show considerable variation in manuscript dating and cashier signatures.