4 skilling banco, Stockholm, Oscar I, 1852

The 4 skilling banco was not a popular coin when it was introduced in 1849. People found the coin large and clumsy, making it ‘inconvenient to carry’. It was hoped that it would be replaced by a coin of the same denomination, but in silver, which would make it small and neat.

A test coin was made for a silver 4 shilling coin. But in 1855, a coinage act was passed which decided that the coinage would be based on the decimal system. 1 riksdaler would no longer be divided into 48 skillings but into 100 öre. The skilling had played out its role and no 4-skilling coins were ever minted in silver.

Image rights: Helena Bonnevier, Ekonomiska museet - Kungliga myntkabinettet/SHM (CC BY 4.0)

Object number: 117427_KMK

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