in 1987. the Friends of the Royal Swedish Coin Cabinet (Kungliga Myntkabinettets Vanner) decided to sponsor a 1988 commemorative medal in recognition of the 350th anniversary of the founding of the New Sweden Colony in present-day Delaware and Southern New Jersey. The Swedish Government issued a pair of coins - one silver, one gold - for the same anniversary; Sweden issued a 2 Kronor commemorative coin in 1938 for the 300th anniversary. (See links below for more about theses coins.)
The Coin Cabinet is a long-established museum in Stockholm Sweden (dating to the 16th Century) that focuses on the history of money and medallic art. The museum was closed for several years, but has reopened with a new name and a broader scope, it is now the Economy Museum - Royal Coin Cabinet. For its scope, per the museum's web site. topics for the museum's exhibitions "may include personal finance, consumption and savings, entrepreneurship and economic history, or current socio-economic issues." The museum continues to hold a very large coin collection (400,000+ pieces) plus fiscal items such as paper money and stock certificates. It also holds an extensive collection of medals. (You can visit the museum's web site here:
Economy Museum - the Royal Coin Cabinet.
The medal was designed by Ernst Nordin, a noted Swedish artist/sculptor; his "EN" initials can be seen on the medal's obverse at the 6 o'clock position. Its obverse design features two pairs of conjoined portraits. The figures at the left are representative of 17th Sweden, while the figures on the right, are meant to be representative of Native Americans found at the time Sweden created its initial settlement in 1638 at present-day Wilmington, DE. On the reverse is found a 17th century sailing ship (likely meant to be the
Kalmar Nyckel) making its way to the New World under a star-filled night time sky.
The medal was struck in limited quantities by the Swedish
Royal Mint. Just 25 gold medals (18 carat) were struck, with 600 sterling silver medals (0.925 fine) produced along with 600 bronze medals; the medals are 45 millimeters in diameter (approximately 1-3/4"). The gold medal has a weight of 80 grams and was sold at a price that covered the market price of gold at the time it was struck plus production costs. In 1988, it would have been priced at about 5,500 Swedish Krona (~$845 USD) based on its actual gold weight (AGW). The silver medal, lighter at ~50 grams, cost 400 Swedish Krona and the bronze medals were 210 Kr. In 1988, the Swedish krona to USD exchange rate would have generated prices of ~$100 USD for the silver medal and about $35 USD for the bronze piece. Orders for the medals were processed directly by the Swedish
Royal Mint.
I've had the silver and bronze versions of the medal in my collection for a number of years; I bought them a delaer in Sweden. I've included them in exhibits I've mounted for the 1938 Delaware Tercentenary commemorative half dollar - they help present the story of the ongoing friendly US-Sweden relationship.
1988 Delaware-New Sweden 350th Anniversary Medal from Sweden
1998 Delaware-New Sweden 350th Anniversary Silver 100 Kr Coin
Images are courtesy of Sveriges Riksbank, the Central Bank of Sweden, https://www.riksbank.se/sv/betalnin.../1900-talet/1936 (1938) Delaware-New Sweden 300th Anniversary US Half Dollar
I've written multiple posts about the 1938 Delaware-New Sweden coins and medals from the US and Sweden, you can find them here:
Read More: Commems Collection.
The above-referenced discussion of the 1988 350th anniversary commemorative coins from Sweden can be found here:
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1936 Delaware Tercentenary Cousin #3
Posted 07/13/2021 12:38 pm
