Goertz daler: coin of Swedish Empire (1715-1719)

GOERTZ DALER: COIN OF SWEDEN

1 daler silvermynt, 1718: Swedish Empire

1 Goertz daler (daler silvermynt), 1718: Swedish Empire

Ruler: Carl XII (Charles XII of Sweden) — King of Sweden (including current Finland).

This is a type of Swedish daler: daler silvermynt. But in numismatics, this coin is also known as the "Goertz daler". — Why?

In the 17th century, Sweden became the only state in Europe whose monetary system was based on copper-silver bimetallism. In parallel, there were silver (daler silvermynt) and copper (daler kopparmynt) dalers. A few decades after the appearance of the first copper coins, worsened the problem, which consisted in the unstable ratio of the price of silver and copper. Copper became cheaper. In order for a copper coin in its real value (the price of metal) to correspond to a silver coin of the same denomination, they had to be made in completely inadequate sizes. This is how Copper Plate Money appeared — weighing more than 19 kg!!!

During the reign of Carl XII, an attempt was made to issue so-called fiat money — credit copper dalers (coins, usually weighing up to 5 g, with a face value significantly higher than the price of the metal contained in them), equal in price to daler silvermynt. The issue was intended to cover the costs associated with the conduct of the Great Northern War. An attempt to stabilize the financial condition of the state by coercive measures failed. Copper analogues of silver dalers, named after the aristocrat responsible for their issue, were called "Goertz dalers". The release of a huge number (according to various estimates from 20 to 42 million — coins of 10 types) of these coins led to a complete breakdown of the country's financial system.

I. DALER S.M: 1 daler SilverMynt.

Floral ornament, stylistically similar to most of the 10 known types of Goertz dalers.

FLINK OCH FÄRDIG: motto "Fast and Ready" (or "Agile and Ready").

Warrior with sword and banner next to lion.

Mintage: 7.368.000 (some numismatic sources erroneously indicate 736.800).

It is interesting that this coin (some consider this daler a notgeld — in Swedish "nödmynt") did not contain either the name of the ruler (Carl XII) or the name of the state (Sweden).

  • Copper: 24 mm - 4.58 g
  • Reference price: 20$

COIN GOERTZ DALER — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
  1. SWEDISH EMPIRE (1715-1719): Goertz daler = daler silvermynt = 2/5 riksdaler

About the name of the coin Goertz daler (type of Daler silvermynt): the name of the coin daler (inherent in the Scandinavian countries) clearly comes from the thaler, which was extremely common in medieval Europe (or rather, the daler was issued as an imitation of the joachimstaler). The prefix "Goertz" indicates the name of Georg Heinrich von Görtz (Swedish statesman of German origin), with whom the people associated the appearance of this credit money in large quantities.
It is also known about daler, riksdaler, rigsdaler, speciedaler, daler silvermynt, Goertz daler...