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1 riksdaler, Stockholm, Karl XII, 1707

Two different riksdaler coins were struck for King Karl XII of Sweden in 1707. The king is depicted wearing an allonge wig, a wig with long curls, on the first, and on the second he has his own hair.

Karl XII had stopped wearing a wig several years earlier when war broke out in 1700. The fact that he is depicted wearing a wig in early 1707 is probably due to the fact that European noblemen were expected to wear them at the time.

It was common knowledge that the king did not follow this fashion. So to avoid being recognised, he wore a wig when he travelled the long road from Demotika in the Ottoman Empire to Stralsund in Germany in 1714.

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

Object number: 3118572

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