Thursday, Jul. 09, 2009
5. The Royal Coin Cabinet
Crossing the Skeppsholmen bridge from the Moderna Museet, trace the water's edge to the Old Town. Take refuge from the sun in the Royal Coin Cabinet, tel: (46-8) 5195 5304, a stately clay-colored building beside the palace. Cabinet is too modest a term for this hoard. Many ancient coins from Baghdad and surrounds found in Europe were unearthed in Sweden, and more ancient English coins turn up in Sweden than in England. Here they all are, along with the world's largest coin, a whopping copper plate of almost 20 kg struck in 1644, and the world's first banknote, issued in 1661 by Stockholms Banco.