Sweden Silver Medal 1682 - Birth of Crown Prince Karl (XII), 17 June 1682 - Karl XI (1660-1697)

6.57g. 27mm. AU/UNC. Beautiful exemplar with mint luster and old multicolor patina. 

Medalier: unsigned. 

Delzanno (SKM) 136a (Ag); HK 94. 

Obv.: Female figure with infant at left, before a draped and crowned male figure seated at right. 

Inscription around: 

IN • GLORIAM • SECVLI • 

(To the glory of the age). 

Rev.: Inscription in eleven lines: 

DEO / TER • OPT • MAX • / SVE • VOTA • SOLVV • / OB / NAT • CAROL • PRINCI • / A / CAROLO • XI • REG • ET / VLRICA • ELE • REGI • / PRINCIPIB • OPTI • / A° • 1682 • D • / 17. IVNII • 

(To God, thrice greatest and best, the Swedes pay their vows / for the birth of Prince Karl / to the best sovereigns, King Charles XI and Queen Ulrika Eleonora / in the year 1682, on 17 June). 

Charles XII (1682-1718) was born on 17 June 1682 to King Charles XI of Sweden and Queen Ulrika Eleonora the Elder. He succeeded to the Swedish throne in 1697 and became one of the most famous warrior-kings in Swedish history. His reign was dominated by the Great Northern War, in which Sweden fought a coalition led by Russia, Denmark-Norway, and Saxony-Poland. Although Charles won several remarkable early victories, including the battle of Narva in 1700, the long war gradually exhausted Swedish resources and ended the period of Sweden’s dominance as a major power in Northern Europe. He was killed in 1718 during the campaign against Norway.