The copper plate money minted in Sweden during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was in essence a government experiment focused on using natural resources both as physical currency and as an exported commodity. Copper has been mined in Sweden since the Middle Ages and the minting of copper coinage began in 1624 with round and small klippe pieces being produced. During this same time Spanish demand for copper increased with the minting of subsidiary coinage and across Europe production of copper dropped, creating an advantageous situation for the Swedes. Having settled the intrinsic domestic value of copper to silver by law in 1643, the selling of copper coinage as an export commodity became an even more appealing prospect. The only hitch in this situation was the costs associated with minting individual round coins, with 32 one-Ore coins needed to equal one Daler. In order to reduce these costs and increase their profit margin Swedish authorities turned to the miners who had been pulling copper out of their land for centuries. Copper plates had been produced at mines for years and were an easy way for raw copper to be transported; all that was needed to make these into the coins we know today were the five stamps placed in the corners and center of the plates. The first of these official plates were the 10 Daler SM issues of 1644 weighing in at a hefty 19.72 kilograms. In subsequent issues smaller more manageable denominations of 8, 4, 2, 1 and ½ Daler were struck and easily exported. For over 130 years (with the exclusion of only a few brief periods) this form of currency was minted and traded to countries in Europe and as far away as India and the Pacific. Even after the plates became obsolete as a form of currency they were still desirable as an export due to their uniform shapes and weights. So much was exported, in fact, that despite millions of these plates having been made, fewer than 15,000 are known to exist today.
This example was salvaged off of the 1783 shipwreck "NICOBAR". The "AFRS" stamp in the upper left hand corner is dated 1756, the year if it's manufacture. Note the missing right side and the two right corner stamps, lost to the corrosion and erosion of 230 years in the Southern Atlantic.
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Two South Africans, spearfishing on the west coast of South Africa in 1986 found the remains of a ship carrying 3,000 examples of Swedish Platmynt, the largest circulating coins ever minted.
Platmynt or plate money was minted in Sweden between 1644 and 1809 where it both helped and confused the Swedish economy. Sweden's currency system was based on silver, but Sweden produced no silver and traded its copper to get silver for coins. In the early 17th century Swedish copper mines produced two-thirds of Europe's copper. Most of that copper was exported to Spain for small denomination coinage.
In 1624, Sweden began producing copper coins to match the denominations of smaller silver coins. Although the copper coins were issued in the same denomination as the silver coins, the copper coins were just much larger. The value of copper in relation to silver kept changing. At one point the domestic price of copper fell so low that Swedish investors bought copper coins and sold them abroad as bullion. Finally in 1643, the value of copper was fixed by law, but the idea of copper coins as a commodity had also become fixed.
Meanwhile Sweden's Falu copper mine had been producing large ingots of unrefined copper, some being several inches thick and weighing as much as 43 pounds. With the placement of a circular seal on each corner showing the date, the Swedish crown and the initials of Queen Christiana, the plates became coins.
Each plate was stamped with a denomination. The largest, the 10-Daler plates, were struck in 1644 and 1645 and only 10 of those 26,774 plates exist. Weighing 43 pounds, they were too large for circulating coins and in 1646 the Swedish Government decreed that the largest denomination would be the 8-Daler plate, a 35-pound coin.
Fortunes of the Platmynt varied in the next hundred years according to the value of copper both in Sweden and in other countries. By 1698 the copper coins were considered more of a commodity than circulating coinage and export restrictions were placed on all the plate coins. Although a large number of 2- and 4-Daler plates was minted and exported between 1720 and 1745, reliance on bank notes and paper money caused a decline in the use of Platmynt.
In 1771, the Platmynt ceased being considered as money and most of the plates remaining in Sweden were exported in the 1780's during a time of high copper prices worldwide. The plates found in 1987 were being shipped by the Danish East India Company to the Nicobar Islands and to Danish trading posts on the Indian coast. The ship, the Nicobar, picked up cargo in Cronborg, Sweden on July 23, 1782. Sailing for the Cape of Good Hope, the Nicobar was forced to land on the west coast of Africa to replenish food stocks and crew, many of whom were too ill to continue.
On May 20, 1783, the Nicobar entered False Bay, South Africa, and took on 18 sailors and several women who had survived an earlier shipwreck. The Nicobar left False Bay on July 10th and met a severe storm that night and ran aground. Almost 3,000 pieces were excavated, many showing evidence of the straw packing of their shipping containers. Sixty coins were retained by museums; the rest were returned to the skindivers.
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Two South Africans, spearfishing on the west coast of South Africa in 1986 found the remains of a ship carrying 3,000 examples of Swedish Platmynt, the largest circulating coins ever minted.
Platmynt or plate money was minted in Sweden between 1644 and 1809 where it both helped and confused the Swedish economy. Sweden's currency system was based on silver, but Sweden produced no silver and traded its copper to get silver for coins. In the early 17th century Swedish copper mines produced two-thirds of Europe's copper. Most of that copper was exported to Spain for small denomination coinage.
In 1624, Sweden began producing copper coins to match the denominations of smaller silver coins. Although the copper coins were issued in the same denomination as the silver coins, the copper coins were just much larger. The value of copper in relation to silver kept changing. At one point the domestic price of copper fell so low that Swedish investors bought copper coins and sold them abroad as bullion. Finally in 1643, the value of copper was fixed by law, but the idea of copper coins as a commodity had also become fixed.
Meanwhile Sweden's Falu copper mine had been producing large ingots of unrefined copper, some being several inches thick and weighing as much as 43 pounds. With the placement of a circular seal on each corner showing the date, the Swedish crown and the initials of Queen Christiana, the plates became coins.
Each plate was stamped with a denomination. The largest, the 10-Daler plates, were struck in 1644 and 1645 and only 10 of those 26,774 plates exist. Weighing 43 pounds, they were too large for circulating coins and in 1646 the Swedish Government decreed that the largest denomination would be the 8-Daler plate, a 35-pound coin.
Fortunes of the Platmynt varied in the next hundred years according to the value of copper both in Sweden and in other countries. By 1698 the copper coins were considered more of a commodity than circulating coinage and export restrictions were placed on all the plate coins. Although a large number of 2- and 4-Daler plates was minted and exported between 1720 and 1745, reliance on bank notes and paper money caused a decline in the use of Platmynt.
In 1771, the Platmynt ceased being considered as money and most of the plates remaining in Sweden were exported in the 1780's during a time of high copper prices worldwide. The plates found in 1987 were being shipped by the Danish East India Company to the Nicobar Islands and to Danish trading posts on the Indian coast. The ship, the Nicobar, picked up cargo in Cronborg, Sweden on July 23, 1782. Sailing for the Cape of Good Hope, the Nicobar was forced to land on the west coast of Africa to replenish food stocks and crew, many of whom were too ill to continue.
On May 20, 1783, the Nicobar entered False Bay, South Africa, and took on 18 sailors and several women who had survived an earlier shipwreck. The Nicobar left False Bay on July 10th and met a severe storm that night and ran aground. Almost 3,000 pieces were excavated, many showing evidence of the straw packing of their shipping containers. Sixty coins were retained by museums; the rest were returned to the skindivers.
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