Estonia, Reval. Karl XI of Sweden (1660-1697) AV Ducat. 1673. CAROLVS XI D G REX SVECIA, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust left / MON • NOV • AVR CIV • REVAL •, crowned shield with three leopards, cross within circle of dots below; 1673 above left. Unpublished in the standard references; for general type cf. R. Delzanno, Gold coins from Sweden 1512-2020, p. 221, Type IV (RD 123, dated 1671); cf. B. Ahlström, Coins of the Swedish Possessions 1561-1878, 1967, p. 14, 99 (dated 1671); cf. KM 43 and Friedberg 5 (dated 1671). 3.48g, 23mm, 6h.

Extremely Fine; well struck with lustre. Unpublished in the standard references.

From a private UK collection.

Reval, the present city of Tallinn and capital of Estonia on the Gulf of Finland, was founded by the Danes in about 1219. By the 13th century it had passed to the Teutonic Knights and became an important Baltic port as member of the Hanseatic League. On the dissolution of the Order of Knights in 1561 it surrendered its sovereignty to Sweden. In 1721 it was ceded to Russia and finally became capital of an independent Estonia in 1918.