103634 | SWEDEN, DENMARK & GERMANY. Treaty of Travendal silver Medal.

103634  |  SWEDEN, DENMARK & GERMANY. Treaty of Travendal silver Medal. Issued 1700 for the peace treaty that returned Holstein-Gottorp to its duke (37mm, 18.18 g, 12h). Likely by Johann Reinhard Engelhardt in Breslau.

 

ORIENTES DISSIPAT UMBRAS (while rising, it breaks through the clouds), radiant sun [the sun as a symbol for Karl XII of Sweden] above clouds from which rain descends upon a view of the globe focused upon Northern Europe // SEPTEM IVNGIS TRINVNE TRIONES (Thou, oh Triune Lord, unitest the Northern Constellations), in center, radiant יהוה (tetragrammaton); to right, the constellation of Ursa Major, represented by a large bear, moving upward; to left, the constellation of Ursa Minor, represented by a small bear, moving downward; both figures show the various stars of the two constellations in their proper places; in two lines in exergue, PAX SEPTENT / CIↃIↃCC (the Northern Peace of 1700). Edge: + PAX, PAX, TIBI ET PAX ADIVTORIBVS TVIS. I. PARAL. 13 v. 18 (peace, peace be unto you, and peace unto your helpers, –adapted from I Chronicles 12:18).

 

Pax in Nummis 396; Hildebrand I, p. 498, 36; Delzanno 52; Erbstein 4393; van Loon IV, p. 306; "Stars and Constellations on Coins" in AJN (Oct. 1892), p. 31, 4. Choice Very Fine. More darkly toned nearer the edges, with some scattered marks noted throughout; typical die flaw near 9h on the obverse. A rare and engaging type featuring two constellations.

 

Signed in Travdendal in the duchy of Holstein-Gottorp in 1700, the peace established there returned the realm to its rightful duke, Friedrich IV, who was an ally of Karl XII, the king of Sweden. Holstein-Gottorp lies at the base and lower tier of the Jutland Peninsula, and was besieged by the Danes in early 1700. Given alliances through marriage, Sweden was an ally of Holstein-Gottorp, and was able to negotiate a peace and a return of the duchy to its duke. Sweden's attention then turned to Russia, with whom she would battle for naval supremacy, ultimately unsuccessfully, over the next two decades. Interestingly, while Sweden and Holstein-Gottorp were allied at this time, it is that very duchy that would produce a future Russian emperor in the form of Pyotr (Peter) III (born Karl Peter Ulrich von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, a grandson to the aforementioned a Friedrich IV).

 

Upload: 1 October 2026.