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4 dukat, Stockholm, Oscar I, 1846

When Oscar I became king, he continued to issue 4 ducat coins, something that Karl XIV Johan had started doing. Both kings had their portraits on the obverse (front) and the great coat of arms of Sweden on the reverse (back).

The obverse (back) of Oscar I's 4 ducats is the most ornate. Here we see the coat of arms, with an ermine-lined mantle, crowned by a royal Order of the Seraphim surrounding the main escutcheon, divided into four fields. Two of them with the arms of Sweden, the three crowns, and the arms of the House of Bjelbo, a crowned lion in front of three streams.

In the centre of the main shield is the heart shield with the royal family's dynastic arms: the coat of arms of the Vasa dynasty, a vase (a bundle of twigs), and the Bernadotte arms, a bridge with three arches and two towers, an eagle with a thunderbolt and the asterism of the plough (The Big Dipper).

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

Object number: 117454_KMK

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