12 Schillingar / Skillingiä

The Riksgälds-Contoir — the National Debt Office, not a conventional bank — was established in 1789 specifically to finance Sweden's costly war against Russia under Gustav III. These notes were issued outside the Riksbank's authority entirely, a deliberate political maneuver by the Riksdag to keep war financing off the crown's direct books. The bilingual denomination, Swedish and Finnish, reflects the administrative reality of a kingdom that still encompassed Finland.

The Riksgälds notes were initially distrusted and traded at a discount against Riksbank currency — a discount that only widened as the war dragged on.