RESEARCHING SWEDISH MINING TOKENS

 

Diving head-first into a new numismatic field is as exhilarating as it is daunting. As always, we numismatists stand on the shoulders of those before us, deeply dependent on their printed works. Not all books and catalogs are easy to use; many older ones have no illustrations, some use antiquated measurements or odd abbreviations, and some are not readily available online or at the local library. Any swan dive could see you stuck in a proverbial quagmire.

Then again, sometimes such a dive, regardless how poorly executed, opens a new, marvellous world like that I experienced while working on the March 18-19 Collectors Choice Online Auction of selections from the L. E. Bruun Collection.

Lars Emil Bruun had a large collection of Swedish coins, medals, and tokens. With few exceptions, the coins and medals were purchased en bloc when he acquired the amazing Countship of Brahesminde Collection, just a year before his passing. The Counts Bille-Brahe had amassed their collection over generations and often travelled abroad to attend important auctions in person.

In the back of the Bruun 1928 catalog, as nos. 18589-18732, are the Swedish Tokens. Most are mining tokens, issued by local mines, iron and copper works, or factories. Issued in the 17th to 19th centuries, they were used as proof of delivery of a specific service, as payment for work, or as passage tokens. Often rather primitive yet at the same time often carefully made with intricate details, the tokens seem at the same time rough and elegant.

Another contradiction lies in the fact that while on the fringe of numismatics, many were used in copper and iron works where coin metal was made, some in the works where the famous Swedish plate money were made – the very heart of Swedish numismatics.

Getting hold of the right literature was paramount. While in the office library we had the 1872 ‘bible' on Swedish tokens by Stiernstedt, recommended was the 2024 book ‘Sveriges äldre polletter' (Sweden's Older Tokens). What a joy to find a book which supplements its 150-year-old predecessor, adding much new research and knowledge, and best of all, lots of photos.

While not registered as such in the 1928 catalog, I discovered most of the tokens could be pedigreed to a specific sale, the 1851 Johan Scharp sale in Stockholm. As if the 1922 Brahesminde pedigree wasn't impressive enough, another 71 years was added, making it an unbroken, 175-year-old line of provenance!

While many of the tokens are extremely rare (some might even be unique), the pedigree itself is enough to make any of them highly desirable. I cannot recommend strongly enough that you join me, take the plunge, dive into to world of Swedish Mining Tokens, or at least take the opportunity to see the collection. It rivals most, if not all, collections offered in decades, and it will be a long time before a collection of this importance is presented again.

To read the complete lot descriptions, see:
https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/auctions/3-1Q8AAQ/february-2026-world-collectors-choice-online-auction-selections-from-the-le-bruun-collection-session-2-coins-of-germany-norway-sweden-medals-of-denmark-germany-great-britain-norway-and-sweden-lots-16001-16457?limit=36&jump_to_lot=16384

To read the complete article, see:
Take the Plunge (https://stacksbowers.com/take-the-plunge/)

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