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Denier - Olof Skötkonung
| Issuer | Sweden |
|---|---|
| Year | 995-1022 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Silver |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | VLVASI REX SVENO (Translation: King Olof of Sweden) |
| Reverse description | A bold central cross divides the reverse into four quadrants, each containing a single letter, together spelling CRVX, a common devotional device on medieval Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon coinage. The cross extends to a beaded inner circle, beyond which the surrounding Latin legend reads IN NOMINE DNI MC C. The die-cutting is characteristic of the early Swedish hammered coinage closely modelled on English prototypes of the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. The fields are slightly uneven due to the hand-struck nature of the flan. |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
Olof Skötkonung was the first Swedish king to adopt Christianity, and the deniers struck during his reign are the earliest coins produced on Swedish soil — minted at Sigtuna, almost certainly with the help of Anglo-Saxon moneyers brought from England. The stylistic debt to late Anglo-Saxon penny production is unmistakable to anyone who has handled both, even without looking at the design.
Before Sigtuna began striking, Scandinavia circulated foreign coin by weight rather than by face value. Olof's decision to issue a domestic coinage was as much a statement of political consolidation as it was a practical monetary measure. The Sigtuna mint operated intermittently and output was modest, which accounts for the relative scarcity of surviving examples today.