Sale: Triton X, Lot: 906. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SWEDEN. Johan III. 1568–1592. AR 4 Mark Klipping (13.07 g, 9h). Stockholm mint. Dated (15)69. Crowned Vasa sheaf between I R; • 4 • to left, • M • to right, • S • below / DEVS / • PROTECTOR • / NOSTR in three lines; rosette above, two crowns between first and second lines, one crown between second and third lines, 69 below. Tingström 44; Levin 771; AAH 124; Mailliet 25. VF.

Johan III was one of the sons of Gustav Vasa, a monarch who ruled from 1523 to 1560 and greatly influenced Sweden’s history and development. After Gustav’s death, Erik XIV, a half-brother of Johan III, took the throne of Sweden. Erik’s rule was highly controversial. The Swedish noblemen generally opposed him due to his restrictions on their power, and he spent much of his time fighting Denmark to a stalemate in the Nordic Seven Years’ War (1563-1570). He also was involved in territorial disputes with Johan, who enjoyed relative independence as the Duke of Finland. Johan rebelled against his half-brother from his base in Finland soon after Erik took the throne. Johan’s uprising failed, and Erik imprisoned him in 1563 on charges of treason. Astonishingly, Erik released Johan from prison a few years later in 1567. This foolish decision was no doubt influenced by Erik’s mental instability, which worsened as he grew older and significantly weakened his authority. As a free man, Johan soon joined the rebellion again, leading an army into Stockholm on 29 September 1568 with his brother Karl. This force successfully deposed Erik, and Johan took the throne the next year. During and after the rebellion, Johan issued a series of necessity coinage in several denominations of silver and copper.