48 mark, Stockholm, Johan III, 1590
Towards the end of the 25 Years’ War with Russia, which took place from 1570 to 1595, King Johan III of Sweden needed more money. He had to pay wages to foreign mercenaries, i.e. soldiers in the service of the Swedish king, and to foreign traders.
This is why Johan III had markmynt coins minted in gold in 1590 and 1591. The gold for the coins was collected from the towns through a special tax and consisted mostly of German, English and ungersk gyllen coins. The gold was mixed with copper in order to make as many gold coins as possible, and these coins had the lowest gold content ever of any Swedish gold coins.
The gold content was 542/1000. Compare this to King Erik XIV’s ungersk gyllen coin, with a gold content of 987/1000. 48, 24, 12, 6 and 3-mark coins were minted in 1590, and 6-mark coins were minted in 1591.
)Object number: 108126_KMK
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