 Gustaf IV Adolf, 1792-1809. Ducat, 1794 OL. Undraped bust r. with oddly squared hair and long peruke, titles presented in Swedish. Rv. Round Arms in Collar of the Seraphim. Fr.76, KM 541. This pious and conscientious young King succeeded his murdered father Gustaf III in 1792. A fanatical enemy of Napoleon, he led Sweden into war with the French Emperor, losing Swedish Pomerania to the French and Finland to Russia. Perceived as mentally ill, he and his branch of the House of Vasa were dethroned in favor of his uncle Karl Duke of Sodermania, who took the title of Karl XIII and later adopted French Marshal Bernadotte as his heir. Gustaf lived in poverty-stricken exile until his death in St. Gallen, Switzerland in 1837. Here is a virtually superb example of this 3-year type, a gleaming Gem Brilliant Uncirculated. (Est. $3,000-$3,500)
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