Beginning in 1977, a series of coin-like objects have been issued in various local communities around Sweden, known as
lokalmynt, literally ‘local coins’. They carry a face value and are clearly a numismatic subject – but what are they, more specifically?
The series of local coins had its beginning in 1977 in the town of Trelleborg, where the committee behind a local festival, called Mikaeli Marknad, decided to issue some “coins” as a fundraiser for the festival. The coins were sold by the committee through various outlets, and agreements had been made with various local businesses to accept the coins as means of payment. There were three types and they were denominated 10, 100 and 1000 kronor. There was a bit of a kerfuffle surrounding the Trelleborg coins. The concept of local coins was a novelty, and there were no regulations in place to guide their potential use. This caused some questions among the people who could potentially use these coins – were they real coins or not? Until then there had only been one type of coins, namely the regular coins that circulated throughout Sweden. Swedish numismatist Bertel Tingström pointed out* in
Myntkontakt, November 1977, that a
coin is issued and backed by the government and is the officially recognised medium of exchange. This is not the case with the Trelleborg “coins”, which are defined by Tingström as medals or tokens. The issuance of these coins could also potentially have gotten the committee in Trelleborg into hot waters, legally speaking, especially if they were to market their coins as official coins. In the event, it was found that there was no law that defined the Trelleborg coins as illegal. As Tingström indicated, there was no law prohibiting a business owner from accepting a token as a means of payment. This doesn’t turn the tokens into official coinage, though. The festival in Trelleborg is recurring annually to this day, although it is now called Palmfestivalen.
Having been pioneered by the festival organisers in Trelleborg, local coins were issued in many parts of Sweden during the late 1970s and the 1980s. Although the phenomenon has tapered off they are still occasionally issued. They are often denominated in kronor, but various other units have been invented for the purpose. The series of local coins has become
very extensive over the years. Such coins were sponsored by many different organisations, e.g. sports associations. Some or all of the local coins of Östersund were sponsored by a local numismatic association, Östersunds Myntklubb. In each case, the proceeds from the sale of the coins benefit the sponsoring association.
The issuance of local coins did not remain entirely unregulated. In Trelleborg in 1977 it would have been clear who had issued the coins and why. Divorced from the original context, they might not be properly understood. The 1977 Trelleborg coins carry the name of the town on one side and an image of the seal of Trelleborg on the other. If you didn’t know any better, you might think that the municipal administration had created a local currency. (I have seen a case of someone attempting to get the municipal administration in Huddinge to exchange a local coin from that location for regular Swedish currency). This would have invited comparisons with the French World War I era tokens issued by local chambres de commerce. The Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket) issued guidelines for local coins in response to the early unregulated issues. These guidelines, as referenced** by Bertel Tingström in 1979, are:
- Advertisements for local coins should not leave the impression that they are legal tender.
- Local coins should have a pre-defined time period of validity.
- Information regarding period of validity, office of redemption and issuer must be explicitly indicated on the coins themselves.
- Similar information must be indicated in any promotional materials.
- The issuer must ensure that businesses that have chosen to accept local coins as means of payment advertise their participation.
- Advertisements for local coins should not provide false expectations that the coins will have great value as collectible items in the future.
One thing to note is that the coins are supposed to have an expiration date and an office where they can be redeemed, i.e. exchanged for regular Swedish currency. This means that the anomalous situation of having an alternative, local currency does not last infinitely. After the expiration date, all coins that had not been redeemed – presumably the vast majority – would be keepsakes and collectible items only. (One can imagine that there might occasionally have been a bit of nervous tension in the air in the issuing organisations in the final days before the expiration date!).
Another thing to note is that key information must be indicated on the coins themselves. This has led to several coins being issued with an inscription, given in very small lettering, containing this information. (In some cases, even the edge was used for this purpose). This was probably seen as a nuisance by the people issuing the coins, but from a numismatic perspective, it means that key information regarding the coins’ background is available in the coin itself.
So, how should we categorise these items? If the question is
‘are they means of payment?’, then, yes they are. They were used to a limited extent in transactions between people who had voluntarily chosen to accept them as means of payment. The expiration of their validity also implies that there was a period of
validity (i.e. purchasing power) before the expiration date. If the question is
‘are they coins?’, then the answer would have to be no. They were not issued by a central bank or government, they were not backed by the state or government, and you could not pay taxes with them. Being issued by private associations, they are
tokens, not coins – the issuing associations did not have the authority to issue actual coins. Whether that makes them any more – or any less – interesting as collectible items is entirely up to each collector to decide. In case you’re thinking of taking a course in Swedish geography, learning more about their local coins might not be a bad start!
* Bertel Tingström:
Lokalmynt – ny fluga, in
Myntkontakt, November 1977.
** Bertel Tingström:
Lokalmynt, in
Myntkontakt, October 1979.