Catalog
24 Schillingar / Skillingiä
| Issuer | Riksens Ständers Riksgälds Contor |
|---|---|
| Year | 1793-1804 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Plain typeset note on aged paper, with the denomination '24 Schillingar' set in a larger display typeface at the upper centre. The body of the note carries a letterpress text in period Swedish script, stating the obligation of the Riksgälds Contor to repay the bearer twenty-four Schillingar, dated Stockholm 1794. Two manuscript signatures appear in the lower portion, with an anti-theft warning clause in a smaller typeface to the right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 24 Schillingar Uti Riksens Ständers Riksgälds Contor är insatt en Summa af Tjugufyra Schillingar, hwilka 24 Schillingar Innehafwaren häraf har at återbekomma. Stockholm d. 19 [?] 1794. Tjugufyra Schill. Kapitvmmendå nelja Stillingiä. Den som denne Sedel eftersapar skall warda hängd, men den som bewijtligen upräcler efteraparen undfår en Belöning af Trehundra Riksdaler. |
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| Comments |
The Riksgäldskontoret — the National Debt Office — was created by the Swedish Riksdag in 1789 specifically to finance Gustav III's ruinously expensive war against Russia. Unable to fund the conflict through the Riksbank, which the Riksdag's rival Estate factions controlled, the king effectively created a parallel paper money system under direct parliamentary authority. These Riksgälds notes were the result, and they circulated alongside Riksbank notes at a discount for decades, creating a two-currency confusion that plagued Swedish commerce well into the nineteenth century.
The 24 Skilling denomination sat at an awkward intermediary value in the Swedish skilling system of the period. Notes of this series were printed in Stockholm by the Kontoret's own facilities.