1/2 örtug, Västerås, Svante Nilsson, 1504–1512
In 1511, the Swedish Council of State accused Governor Svante Nilsson of mismanaging the country’s coinage by minting almost exclusively fyrks/half-örtugs. This coin is one of several types of these dating back to the time of Svante Nilsson, and it is minted in the name of St Erik.
Minting small coins with greatly reduced silver content but in larger numbers could be a tempting attempt by men in power to increase the kingdom’s revenue. The problem was that this it would inevitably result in inflation.
