Sweden Cast Lead Medal 1621 (1641) - Conquest of Riga - Gustav II Adolf (1611-1632)

66.41g. 60mm. VF/VF. 

Medalier: Sebastian Dadler and Henrik Wulf (signed S.D. and H.W.). 

Delzanno (SKM) 9b (Ag); Hildebrand 8. 

Rare. 

Obv.: Gustav II Adolf on prancing horse right before the city of Riga; in the exergue, Swedish troops in the field. 

Inscription around: 

GVSTAVVS ADOLPHVS MAGNVS DEI GRATIA SVECOR: GOTHOR: ET VANDALOR: REX AVGVSTVS 

(Gustavus Adolphus the Great, by the Grace of God King of the Swedes, Goths and Vandals, the August). 

Rev.: Swedish troops before the Düna River, with the city of Riga in the background. 

Inscription around: 

RIGA DEVICTA VICTORIA VENIT AB AXE. LAVRV VBI GVSTAVI CINXIT RADIANTE CAPILLOS 

(With Riga conquered, victory came from the pole, where the laurel encircled Gustavus’ radiant locks). 

This medal commemorates the capture of Riga by the Swedish army on 16 September 1621 during the Polish-Swedish War. By taking the great Baltic port from Sigismund III, King of Poland and former King of Sweden, Gustav II Adolf secured one of the most important commercial and strategic cities in the eastern Baltic, in what is now Latvia. Riga remained under Swedish rule until 1710 and became the second-largest city of the Swedish Empire. 

The conquest of Riga marked one of the earliest major successes of Gustav II Adolf’s reign and greatly strengthened Sweden’s position as a Baltic power. Control of the city gave Sweden a dominant foothold in Livonia and helped expand its influence across regions that now belong chiefly to Latvia, Estonia, and Poland’s sphere of conflict in the Baltic. For contemporaries, the fall of Riga was not only a military achievement, but also a symbolic demonstration of Sweden’s growing imperial ambition in Northern Europe.