Riksdaler

The daler or the Riksdaler was the name of the currency used in Sweden, Denmark and Norway until 1873 when it was replaced with the krona as an effect of the Scandinavian Monetary Union. The daler, like the dollar, was named after the German thaler.

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The daler was the most common currency in Sweden from the early 17th century. It was not one single currency but rather a system of currencies with floating exchange rates. There was one daler minted in silver and another minted in copper, where the exchange rates between the two would eventually stabilize at a ratio of 1 to 3. Each daler was divided into 4 Mark which also was equal to 32 ?re. One ?re was divided into 24 penningar, or pennies.

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In 1776 the old currency was exchanged for a new national currency called the Riksdaler, or the "daler of the Realm". The Riksdaler was issued both in banknotes, which is fiat money, and minted in silver. At first only the Bank of the Riksdag of the Estates or Riksens st?nders bank, could issue banknotes, but in 1789 the Debt office or Riksg?ldskontoret was started and given the right to issue its own banknotes. The Riksdaler Specie was minted in silver, the Riksdaler Banco was issued by the Bank of Sweden and the Riksdaler Riksg?lds was issued by the Debt Office.

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The Riksdaler Specie was protected against inflation through its connection to silver but the banknotes suffered heavily from a seigniorage induced inflation. In 1834 it was necessary to pay 2 2/3 Riksdaler Banco or 4 Riksdaler Riksg?lds for one Riksdaler Specie. Under the reform of 1776 one Riksdaler was equal to 48 skillingar or schillings and each skilling was divided into 16 runstycken or runes.

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In 1855 two reforms took place, the introduction of the Riksdaler Riksmynt and the change to a decimal system. One Riksdaler Specie was equal to 4 Riksdaler Riksmynt which was divided into 100 ?re. The Scandinavian Monetary Union replaced the Riksdaler in 1873 with a new currency, the krona, not only in Sweden, but also in Denmark and Norway.

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Riksdaler is still used as slang for kronor in Sweden.

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Currency: :For current exchange rates, see Exchange links....

Sweden: The Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: ') is a Nordic country in Scandinavia, in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Norway on the west, Finland on the northeast, the Skagerrak Strait and the Kattegat Strait on the southwest, and the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia on the east. Sweden has a low populatio...

Denmark: The Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Kongeriget Danmark) is geographically the smallest Nordic country and is part of the European Union. It is located at in Scandinavia, which is in northern Europe. Denmark borders the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, and consists of a peninsula attached to Northern Germa...