bavarikon4UPaper money of Sweden
The Kingdom of Sweden was the first European state to issue paper money. The first paper money issues are known for the year 1661, which were only in circulation for a short time, but laid the foundation for further development.
The decision to introduce paper money had a practical background. Copper plates were previously used as a means of payment in Sweden. The value of a copper plate corresponded to its copper content, which resulted in a corresponding size and weight. For example, a 10 daler plate weighed over 20 kilos. This made the copper plates very unwieldy for payment transactions. In this situation, the Riga-born banker Johan Palmstruch (1611-1671) suggested to the Swedish government that it should establish an exchange and loan bank. In 1656, he received permission to establish the Stockholm Banco and the first paper money issue.
However, as Stockholm Banco was too generous in its lending, it ran into difficulties and was unable to redeem the banknotes. In 1668, the institute went bankrupt, Palmstruch was put on trial and sentenced to prison. The remains of the bank were absorbed into the Swedish estates' exchange bank in 1668. The bank was renamed Sveriges Riksbank in 1866. It now issued banknotes in the krone currency, which had been introduced in 1873 with the establishment of the Scandinavian Monetary Union. Sveriges Riksbank is therefore one of the oldest central banks in the world still in existence.
In addition to Sveriges Riksbank, there had been private central banks, known as "Enskilda Bankers", since 1824. They were also allowed to issue notes. Their number had grown to 31 institutes by 1893. The Banking Act of 1897 abolished their right to issue banknotes, giving Sveriges Riksbank the exclusive right to issue banknotes.
The state also issued paper money: From 1789, the National Debt Administration issued banknotes in Sweden. The Swedish state's financial difficulties affected paper money: it depreciated again and again. Nevertheless, banknotes continued to be issued until finally, in 1834, the issue of government paper money was stopped.
>> This collection is part of the holdings of "Paper money in Europe" of the Giesecke+Devrient Stiftung Geldscheinsammlung (Giesecke+Devrient foundation: collections of bank notes).