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135-555: During 1659–1689, the former Riario palace had hosted the eccentric Christina, Queen of Sweden , who abdicated, converted, and moved to Rome. Under her patronage, this was the site for the first meetings of the Roman Accademia dell'Arcadia . In 1736, the Florentine Cardinal Neri Maria Corsini , nephew of Pope Clement XII (formerly Cardinal Lorenzo Corsini), acquired the villa and land, and commissioned

270-434: A legal tender and accepted by governments for taxes. However, the instability in the exchange rate between the two grew over the course of the 19th century, with the increases both in the supply of these metals, particularly silver, and in trade. The parallel use of both metals is called bimetallism , and the attempt to create a bimetallic standard where both gold and silver backed currency remained in circulation occupied

405-624: A "Ballet de la Naissance de la Paix," performed on her birthday. On the day after, 19 December 1649, he probably started his private lessons for the queen. With Christina's strict schedule, he was invited to the cold and draughty castle at 5:00 am daily to discuss philosophy and religion. Soon, it became clear they did not like each other; she disapproved of his mechanical view, and he did not appreciate her interest in Ancient Greek . On 15 January Descartes wrote he had seen Christina only four or five times. On 1 February 1650, Descartes caught

540-465: A book about Greek dance . Christina was interested in theatre, especially the plays of Pierre Corneille ; she was herself an amateur actress. From 1638 Oxenstierna employed a French ballet troupe under Antoine de Beaulieu , who also had to teach Christina to move around more elegantly. In 1647, the Italian architect Antonio Brunati was ordered to build a theatrical setting in one of the larger rooms of

675-711: A bride. She sent letters recommending two of the Duke's daughters to Charles. Based on this recommendation, he married Hedwig Eleonora . On 10 July Christina arrived in Hamburg and stayed with Jacob Curiel at Krameramtsstuben . Christina visited Johann Friedrich Gronovius , and Anna Maria van Schurman in the Dutch Republic. In August, she arrived in the Southern Netherlands and settled down in Antwerp. For four months Christina

810-557: A certain Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi. The official entry into Rome took place on 20 December, in a sedan chair designed by Bernini through Porta Flaminia , which today is known as Porta del Popolo . Christina met Bernini on the next day, she invited him to her apartment the same evening and they became lifelong friends. "Two days afterwards she was conducted to the Vatican Basilica, where the pope gave her confirmation. It

945-451: A cold. He died ten days later, early in the morning of 11 February 1650, and according to Chanut, the cause of his death was pneumonia . By the age of nine, Christina was already impressed by the Catholic religion and the merits of celibacy . She read a biography of the virgin queen Elizabeth I of England with interest. But Christina understood that she was expected to provide an heir to

1080-501: A commodity under the Commodity Exchange Act . There are also branded currencies, for example 'obligation' based stores of value, such as quasi-regulated BarterCard, Loyalty Points (Credit Cards, Airlines) or Game-Credits (MMO games) that are based on reputation of commercial products. Historically, pseudo-currencies have also included company scrip , a form of wages that could only be exchanged in company stores owned by

1215-423: A country has control of its own currency, that control is exercised either by a central bank or by a Ministry of Finance . The institution that has control of monetary policy is referred to as the monetary authority. Monetary authorities have varying degrees of autonomy from the governments that create them. A monetary authority is created and supported by its sponsoring government, so independence can be reduced by

1350-425: A deposed brother ( Eric XIV of Sweden ) and a deposed nephew ( Sigismund III of Poland ). Gustav Adolf's legitimate younger brothers had died years earlier. The one legitimate female left, his half-sister Catharine , came to be excluded in 1615 when she married John Casimir, a non-Lutheran. Christina became the undisputed heir presumptive . From Christina's birth, King Gustav Adolph recognized her eligibility even as

1485-631: A female heir, and although she was called "queen," the official title the Riksdag gave at her coronation in February 1633 was "king". In June 1630, when Christina was three years old, Gustav Adolf left for Germany to defend Protestantism and became involved in the Thirty Years' War . He secured his daughter's right to inherit the throne, in case he never returned, and gave orders to Axel Gustafsson Banér, his marshal, that Christina should receive an education of

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1620-591: A few exceptions, including Ebba Sparre , Lady Jane Ruthven and Louise van der Nooth , Christina did not show any interest in any of her female courtiers. She generally mentions them in her memoirs only to compare herself favorably toward them by referring to herself as more masculine than they. Christina was educated as a royal male would have been. The theologian Johannes Matthiae Gothus became her tutor; he gave her lessons in religion, philosophy, Greek and Latin . Chancellor Oxenstierna taught her politics and discussed Tacitus with her. Oxenstierna proudly wrote of

1755-435: A freely convertible currency, domestic firms will have to compete fiercely with their foreign counterparts. The development of competition among them will affect the implementation effect of currency convertibility. In addition, microeconomics is a prerequisite for macroeconomic conditions. Since currency convertibility is the cross-border flow of goods and capital, it will have an impact on the macro economy. This requires that

1890-550: A government ( taxes ), or government agencies (fees, fines). Others simply get traded for their economic value. The concept of a digital currency has arisen in recent years. Whether government-backed digital notes and coins (such as the digital renminbi in China, for example) will be successfully developed and implemented remains unknown. Digital currencies that are not issued by a government monetary authority , such as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin , are different because their value

2025-464: A guitarist. A Dutch theater troupe with Ariana Nozeman and Susanna van Lee visited her in 1653. Among the French artists she employed was Anne Chabanceau de La Barre , who was made court singer. In 1646, Christina's good friend, the French ambassador Pierre Chanut , met and corresponded with the philosopher René Descartes , asking him for a copy of his Meditations . Upon showing the queen some of

2160-608: A handful of palaces belonging to various lines of this Florentine family, which acquired and built this Roman palace, sometime referred to as Palazzo Corsini alla Lungara only upon the ascension of their family member to the papacy. Another Corsini palace of note include the Palazzo Corsini al Parione , facing the banks of the Arno in Florence . The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica di Palazzo Corsini or National Gallery of Antique Art in

2295-592: A never-ending round of fireworks, jousts , mock duels, acrobatics, and operas. On 31 January Vita Humana an opera by Marco Marazzoli was performed. At the Palazzo Barberini , where she was welcomed on 28 February by a few hundred privileged spectators, she watched an amazing carousel in the courtyard. Christina had settled down in the Palazzo Farnese , which belonged to the Duke of Parma . Every Wednesday she held

2430-488: A new church order, but it was voted down as this was interpreted as Crypto-Calvinism . Queen Christina defended him against the advice of Chancellor Oxenstierna, but three years later, the proposal had to be withdrawn. In 1647, the clergy wanted to introduce the Book of Concord ( Swedish : Konkordieboken ) – a book defining correct Lutheranism versus heresy, making some aspects of free theological thinking impossible. Matthiae

2565-573: A policy. In 1649, Louis de Geer founded the Swedish Africa Company and in 1650, Christina hired Hendrik Carloff to improve trade on the Gold Coast . Her reign also saw the founding of the colony of New Sweden in 1638; it lasted until 1655. Christina has been described as the " Minerva of the North" due to her strong support of arts and academics. In 1645, Christina invited Hugo Grotius ,

2700-555: A significant impact on the generation of exchange rates. Currency convertibility is closely linked to economic development and finance. There are strict conditions for countries to achieve currency convertibility, which is a good way for countries to improve their economies. The currencies of some countries or regions in the world are freely convertible, such as the US dollar, Australian dollar and Japanese yen. The requirements for currency convertibility can be roughly divided into four parts: With

2835-574: A singular monetary system for all purchases and debts in the United States, public and private. Along with the power to coin money, the United States Congress has the concurrent power to restrain the circulation of money which is not issued under its own authority in order to protect and preserve the constitutional currency. It is a violation of federal law for individuals, or organizations to create private coin or currency systems to compete with

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2970-467: A small regional territory. In the 10th century, the Song dynasty government began to circulate these notes amongst the traders in its monopolized salt industry. The Song government granted several shops the right to issue banknotes, and in the early 12th century the government finally took over these shops to produce state-issued currency. Yet the banknotes issued were still only locally and temporarily valid: it

3105-752: A specific country and a final letter denoting a specific monetary unit of account. Many currencies use a currency symbol . These are not subject to international standards and are not unique: the dollar sign in particular has many uses. Distinct from centrally controlled government-issued currencies, private decentralized trust-reduced networks support alternative currencies (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum's ether , which are classified as cryptocurrency since transference transactions are assured through cryptographic signatures validated by all users. With few exceptions , these currencies are not asset backed . The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has declared Bitcoin (and, by extension, similar products) to be

3240-503: A university at will by the Peace of Westphalia . She is also remembered for her unconventional lifestyle and occasional adoption of masculine attire, which have been depicted frequently in media; gender and cultural identity are pivotal themes in many of her biographies. She succeeded her father Gustavus Adolphus upon his death at the Battle of Lützen at seven years old, but she began ruling

3375-565: A work bestowing doubt on all organized religion. In 1651, the kabbalist Menasseh ben Israel offered to become her agent or librarian for Hebrew books and manuscripts; they discussed his messianic ideas as he had recently spelled them out in his latest book, Hope of Israel . Other illustrious scholars who came to visit were Claude Saumaise , Johannes Schefferus , Olaus Rudbeck , Johann Heinrich Boeckler , Gabriel Naudé , Christian Ravis , Nicolaas Heinsius and Samuel Bochart , together with Pierre Daniel Huet and Marcus Meibomius , who wrote

3510-432: Is a price at which two currencies can be exchanged against each other. This is used for trade between the two currency zones. Exchange rates can be classified as either floating or fixed . In the former, day-to-day movements in exchange rates are determined by the market; in the latter, governments intervene in the market to buy or sell their currency to balance supply and demand at a static exchange rate. In cases where

3645-697: Is economic turmoil involving the national currency. An example of this is the Argentinian economic crisis of 2002 in which IOUs issued by local governments quickly took on some of the characteristics of local currencies. One of the best examples of a local currency is the original LETS currency, founded on Vancouver Island in the early 1980s. In 1982, the Canadian Central Bank 's lending rates ran up to 14% which drove chartered bank lending rates as high as 19%. The resulting currency and credit scarcity left island residents with few options other than to create

3780-584: Is market-dependent and has no safety net . Various countries have expressed concern about the opportunities that cryptocurrencies create for illegal activities such as scams , ransomware ( extortion ), money laundering and terrorism . In 2014, the United States IRS advised that virtual currency is treated as property for federal income-tax purposes, and it provides examples of how long-standing tax principles applicable to transactions involving property apply to virtual currency. Originally, currency

3915-476: Is often outlawed by governments in order to preserve the legitimacy of the constitutional currency for the benefit of all citizens. For example, Article I, section 8, clause 5 of the United States Constitution delegates to Congress the power to coin money and to regulate the value thereof. This power was delegated to Congress in order to establish and preserve a uniform standard of value and to insure

4050-640: Is one of the few women buried in the Vatican Grottoes . Christina was born in the royal castle Tre Kronor . Her parents were the Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus and his German wife, Maria Eleonora . They had already had three children: two daughters (a stillborn princess in 1621, then the first Princess Christina, who was born in 1623 and died the following year) and a stillborn son in May 1625. Excited expectations surrounded Maria Eleonora's fourth pregnancy in 1626. When

4185-534: Is regarded as the first tourist to visit North Cape, Norway . Another Franciscan was the Swede Lars Skytte, who, under the name pater Laurentius, served as Christina's confessor for eight years. Twenty-nine-year-old Christina gave occasion to much gossip when socializing freely with men her own age. One of them was Cardinal Decio Azzolino , who had been a secretary to the ambassador in Spain, and responsible for

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4320-523: Is said to have been almost ruined by her visit. Her departure was on 8 November. The southbound journey through Italy was planned in detail by the Vatican and included brilliant triumphs in Ferrara, Bologna, Faenza and Rimini. In Pesaro , Christina became acquainted with the handsome brothers Santinelli , who so impressed her with their poetry and adeptness of dancing that she took them into service, as well as

4455-480: Is that a currency is a system of money in common use within a specific environment over time, especially for people in a nation state. Under this definition, the British Pound sterling (£), euros (€), Japanese yen (¥), and U.S. dollars (US$ ) are examples of (government-issued) fiat currencies . Currencies may act as stores of value and be traded between nations in foreign exchange markets , which determine

4590-466: Is too high or too low, which can easily trigger speculation and undermine the stability of macroeconomic and financial markets. Therefore, to maintain the level of exchange rate, a proper exchange rate regime is crucial. In economics, a local currency is a currency not backed by a national government and intended to trade only in a small area. Advocates such as Jane Jacobs argue that this enables an economically depressed region to pull itself up, by giving

4725-618: The Codex Argenteus and the Codex Gigas . In 1649, 760 paintings, 170 marble and 100 bronze statues, 33,000 coins and medallions, 600 pieces of crystal, 300 scientific instruments, manuscripts, and books (including the Sanctae Crucis laudibus by Rabanus Maurus ) were transported to Stockholm. The art, from Prague Castle , had belonged to Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor and had been captured by Hans Christoff von Königsmarck during

4860-459: The Battle of Prague and the negotiations of the Peace of Westphalia . By 1649–1650, "her desire to collect men of learning round her, as well as books and rare manuscripts, became almost a mania", Goldsmith wrote. To catalog her new collection she asked Isaac Vossius to come to Sweden and Heinsius to purchase more books on the market. Her ambitions naturally demanded a wide-ranging correspondence. Not infrequently, she sat and wrote far into

4995-413: The Battle of Prague (1648) , when her armies looted Prague Castle , many of the treasures collected by Rudolph II were brought back to Stockholm. Thus, Christina acquired a number of valuable illustrated works and rare manuscripts for her library. The inventory drawn up at the time mentions 100 an allerhand Kunstbüchern ("a hundred art books of different kinds"), among them two world-famous manuscripts:

5130-529: The Duke of Guise gave up. Christina's goal was to become a mediator between France and Spain in their contest to control Naples. Her plan detailed that she would lead French troops to take Naples and rule until bequeathing the crown to France after her death. Christina sent home all her Spanish servants, including her confidant Pimentel and her confessor Guêmes. On 20 July 1656 Christina set sail from Civitavecchia for Marseille where she arrived nine days later. In early August, she traveled to Paris, accompanied by

5265-498: The Galerie des Cerfs , discussing the matter and letters with him. He insisted that betrayal should be punished with death. She was convinced that he had pronounced his own death sentence. After an hour or so Le Bel was to receive his confession. Both Le Bel and Monaldeschi entreated for mercy, but he was stabbed by her domestics – notably Ludovico Santinelli – in his stomach and in his neck. Wearing his coat of mail , which protected him, he

5400-833: The Icelandic króna and the Japanese yen . Mauritania and Madagascar are the only remaining countries that have theoretical fractional units not based on the decimal system; instead, the Mauritanian ouguiya is in theory divided into 5 khoums , while the Malagasy ariary is theoretically divided into 5 iraimbilanja . In these countries, words like dollar or pound "were simply names for given weights of gold". Due to inflation khoums and iraimbilanja have in practice fallen into disuse. (See non-decimal currencies for other historic currencies with non-decimal divisions.) Subject to variation around

5535-543: The Swedish Empire when she reached the age of eighteen. During the Torstenson War in 1644, she initiated the issuance of copper in lumps to be used as currency . Her lavish spending habits pushed the state towards bankruptcy, sparking public unrest. Christina argued for peace to end the Thirty Years' War and received indemnity . Following scandals over her not marrying and converting to Catholicism, she relinquished

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5670-513: The cash form of a currency. Banknotes were initially mostly paper, but Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation developed a polymer currency in the 1980s; it went into circulation on the nation's bicentenary in 1988. Polymer banknotes had already been introduced in the Isle of Man in 1983. As of 2016, polymer currency is used in over 20 countries (over 40 if counting commemorative issues), and dramatically increases

5805-474: The putrefaction . They tried to persuade Maria not to visit the corpse so often. Axel Oxenstierna managed to have the corpse interred in Riddarholmen Church on 22 June 1634, but had to post guards after she tried to dig it up. Maria Eleanora had been indifferent to her daughter, but after Gustav Adolf's death, Christina became the center of her mother's attention. Gustav Adolf had decided that in

5940-416: The 14-year-old girl that "she is not at all like a female" and had "a bright intelligence." Christina seemed happy to study ten hours a day. Besides Swedish and German , she learned at least six more languages: Dutch , Danish , French , Italian , Arabic and Hebrew . In 1644, at the age of 18, Christina was declared an adult, although the coronation was postponed because of the Torstenson War . She

6075-680: The Corsini Palace is a prominent art museum comprising the first floor of the palace. The national Arte Antica collections (typically post-year 1000 A.D.) in Rome consist of a number of sites, including Palazzo Barberini , Galleria Borghese , and the Palazzo Corsini. The majority of the major works in the Corsini Gallery collection were donated by the Corsini family, and initially were gathered by

6210-489: The Duke of Guise. Mazarin gave her no official sponsorship but gave instructions that she be celebrated and entertained in every town on her way north. On 8 September she arrived in Paris and was shown around; ladies were shocked by her masculine appearance and demeanor and the unguarded freedom of her conversation. When visiting the ballet with la Grande Mademoiselle , she, as the latter recalls, "surprised me very much – applauding

6345-463: The French doctor Pierre Bourdelot arrived in Stockholm. Unlike most doctors of that time, he held no faith in blood-letting ; instead, he ordered sufficient sleep, warm baths, and healthy meals, in contrast to Christina's hitherto ascetic way of life. She was only twenty-five; and advising that she should take more pleasure in life, Bourdelot asked her to stop studying and working so hard and to remove

6480-659: The North Sea and was no longer encircled by Denmark–Norway . Chancellor Oxenstierna soon discovered that her political views differed from his own. In 1645, he sent his son, Johan Oxenstierna , to the Peace Congress in the Westphalian city of Osnabrück , to argue against peace with the Holy Roman Empire . Christina, however, wanted peace at any cost and sent her own delegate, Johan Adler Salvius . The Peace of Westphalia

6615-552: The Royal Council decided to split the office of head lady-in-waiting (responsible for the queen's female courtiers) and the office royal governess (or foster-mother) in four, with two women appointed to share each office. Accordingly, Ebba Leijonhufvud and Christina Natt och Dag were appointed to share the position of royal governess and foster mother with the title Upptuktelse-Förestånderska ('Castigation Mistress'), while Beata Oxenstierna and Ebba Ryning were appointed to share

6750-515: The Swedish throne. Her first cousin Charles was infatuated with her, and they became secretly engaged before he left in 1642 to serve in the Swedish army in Germany for three years. Christina revealed in her autobiography that she felt "an insurmountable distaste for marriage" and "for all the things that females talked about and did." She once stated, "It takes more courage to marry than to go to war." As she

6885-634: The United States. At various times countries have either re-stamped foreign coins or used currency boards , issuing one note of currency for each note of a foreign government held, as Ecuador currently does. Each currency typically has a main currency unit (the dollar , for example, or the euro ) and a fractional unit, often defined as 1 ⁄ 100 of the main unit: 100 cents  = 1  dollar , 100 centimes  = 1  franc , 100 pence = 1  pound , although units of 1 ⁄ 10 or 1 ⁄ 1000 occasionally also occur. Some currencies do not have any smaller units at all, such as

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7020-938: The Vatican's correspondence with European courts. He was also the leader of the Squadrone Volante , the free-thinking "Flying Squad" movement within the Catholic Church. Christina and Azzolino were so close that the pope asked him to shorten his visits to her palace, but they remained lifelong friends. In a letter on 26 January 1676 to Azzolino Christina writes (in French) that she would never offend God or give Azzolino reason to take offense, but this "does not prevent me from loving you until death, and since piety relieves you from being my lover, then I relieve you from being my servant, for I shall live and die as your slave." As he had promised to remain celibate, his replies were more reserved. In

7155-492: The abdication ceremony at Uppsala Castle , Christina wore her regalia , which were ceremonially removed from her, one by one. Per Brahe , who was supposed to remove the crown, did not move, so she had to take the crown off herself. Dressed in a simple white taffeta dress, she gave her farewell speech with a faltering voice, thanked everyone, and left the throne to Charles X Gustav, who was dressed in black. Per Brahe felt that she "stood there as pretty as an angel." Charles Gustav

7290-609: The activities of Bourdelot and tried to convince her to change her attitude towards him; Bourdelot returned to France in 1653 "laden in riches and curses". The Queen had long conversations about Copernicus , Tycho Brahe , Francis Bacon , and Kepler with Antonio Macedo, secretary and interpreter for Portugal's ambassador. Macedo was a Jesuit , and in August 1651, smuggled on his person a letter from Christina to his general in Rome. In reply, Paolo Casati and Francesco Malines, trained in both natural sciences and theology, came to Sweden in

7425-499: The archduke invited her to his Brussels palace on Coudenberg . On 24 December 1654, she converted to the Catholic faith in the archduke's chapel in the presence of the Dominican Juan Guêmes, Raimondo Montecuccoli and Pimentel. Baptized as Kristina Augusta, she adopted the name Christina Alexandra. She did not declare her conversion in public, in case the Swedish council might refuse to pay her alimony. In addition, Sweden

7560-595: The arrangement between her and Louis XIV was ready. He would recommend Christina as queen to the Kingdom of Naples and serve as guarantor against Spanish aggression. As Queen of Naples, she would be financially independent of the Swedish king, and also capable of negotiating peace between France and Spain. On her way back Christina visited French courtesan and author Ninon de l'Enclos in the convent at Lagny-sur-Marne . In early October, she left France and arrived in Torino . During

7695-546: The author of Mare Liberum , to become her librarian, but he died on his way in Rostock . That same year she founded Ordinari Post Tijdender ("Regular Mail Times"), the oldest currently published newspaper in the world. In 1647, Johann Freinsheim was appointed as her librarian. During the Thirty Years' War, Swedish troops looted books from conquered territories and dispatched them to Sweden to win favour with Christina. After

7830-700: The avid 17th century collector, the cardinal Neri Maria Corsini, and added to by other members and from collections of Pope Clement XII and his nephew. In 1883, this palace and its contents were sold to the state, and the collection is displayed in its original location. The collection encompasses the breadth of mainly Italian art from early- Renaissance to late-18th century. It has both religious and historical works, as well as landscapes and genre paintings . [REDACTED] Media related to Palazzo Corsini alla Lungara (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons Christina, Queen of Sweden Christina ( Swedish : Kristina ; 18 December [ O.S. 8 December] 1626 – 19 April 1689)

7965-439: The baby was born, it was first thought to be a boy. It was "hairy" and screamed "with a strong, hoarse voice." She later wrote in her autobiography that "Deep embarrassment spread among the women when they discovered their mistake." The king, though, was very happy, saying, "She'll be clever, she has made fools of us all!" Gustav Adolf was closely attached to his daughter, whereas her mother remained aloof in her disappointment at

8100-471: The beheading of Arnold Johan Messenius , together with his 17-year-old son, who had accused her of serious misbehavior and of being a " Jezebel ". According to them "Christina was bringing everything to ruin, and that she cared for nothing but sport and pleasure." In 1653, she founded the Amaranten order . Antonio Pimentel was appointed as its first knight; all members had to promise not to marry (again). In

8235-489: The blame due to a brawl among courtiers, but she insisted that she alone was responsible for the act. She wrote to Louis XIV who two weeks later paid her a friendly visit without mentioning it. In Rome, people felt differently; Monaldeschi had been an Italian nobleman, murdered by a foreign barbarian with Santinelli as one of her executioners. The letters proving his guilt are gone; Christina left them with Le Bel and only he confirmed that they existed. Christina never revealed what

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8370-481: The books from her apartments. For years, Christina knew by heart all the poems from the Ars Amatoria and was keen on the works by Martial and Petronius . The physician showed her the 16 erotic sonnets of Pietro Aretino , which he kept secretly in his luggage. By subtle means, Bourdelot undermined her principles. Having been Stoic , she now became an Epicurean . Her mother and de la Gardie were very much against

8505-429: The castle. Fountains at the marketplace splashed out wine for three days, a whole roast ox was served, and illuminations sparkled, followed by a themed parade ( The Illustrious Splendors of Felicity ) on 24 October. Her tutor, Johannes Matthiae, influenced by John Dury and Comenius , who since 1638 had been working on a new Swedish school system, represented a gentler attitude than most Lutherans. In 1644, he suggested

8640-412: The changes in the international exchange rate. Fiscal policies , such as transfer payments, taxation ratios, and other factors, dominate the profitability of capital and economic development, and the ratio of national debt issuance to deficit determines the repayment capacity and credit rating of the country. Such policies determine the mechanism of linking domestic and foreign currencies and therefore have

8775-591: The child being a girl. In the year after Christina's birth, Maria Eleonora was described as being in a state of hysteria owing to her husband's absences. She showed little affection for her daughter and was not allowed any influence in Christina's upbringing. He was worried that her instability might pass on to their daughter. The Crown of Sweden was hereditary in the House of Vasa , but from King Charles IX 's time onward (reigned 1604–11), it excluded Vasa princes descended from

8910-400: The circulating medium. Private banks and governments across the world followed Gresham's law : keeping the gold and silver they received but paying out in notes. This did not happen all around the world at the same time, but occurred sporadically, generally in times of war or financial crisis, beginning in the early 20th century and continuing across the world until the late 20th century, when

9045-448: The currencies used from the 15th century onwards to sell slaves. African currency is still notable for its variety, and in many places, various forms of barter still apply. The prevalence of metal coins possibly led to the metal itself being the store of value: first copper, then both silver and gold, and at one point also bronze. Today other non-precious metals are used for coins. Metals were mined, weighed, and stamped into coins. This

9180-425: The definition which focuses on the currency systems of countries. One can classify currencies into three monetary systems : fiat money , commodity money , and representative money , depending on what guarantees a currency's value (the economy at large vs. the government's precious metal reserves ). Some currencies function as legal tender in certain jurisdictions , or for specific purposes, such as payment to

9315-630: The demand for paper notes to fall to zero. The printing of paper money was also associated with wars, and financing of wars, and therefore regarded as part of maintaining a standing army . For these reasons, paper currency was held in suspicion and hostility in Europe and America. It was also addictive since the speculative profits of trade and capital creation were quite large. Major nations established mints to print money and mint coins, and branches of their treasury to collect taxes and hold gold and silver stock. At that time, both silver and gold were considered

9450-531: The diplomat Antonio Pimentel de Prado to Stockholm in August. On 26 February 1649, Christina announced that she had decided not to marry and instead wanted her first cousin Charles Gustav to be heir to the throne. While the nobility objected to this, the three other estates – clergy, burghers, and peasants – accepted it. She agreed to stay on the condition the councils never again asked her to marry. In 1651, Christina lost much of her popularity after

9585-490: The efforts of inflationists . Governments at this point could use currency as an instrument of policy, printing paper currency such as the United States greenback , to pay for military expenditures. They could also set the terms at which they would redeem notes for specie, by limiting the amount of purchase, or the minimum amount that could be redeemed. By 1900, most of the industrializing nations were on some form of gold standard , with paper notes and silver coins constituting

9720-418: The embalmed body of her husband. The 7-year-old Queen Christina came in solemn procession to Nyköping to receive her mother. Maria Eleonora declared that the burial should not take place during her lifetime - she often spoke of shortening her life - or at least should be postponed as long as possible. She also demanded that the coffin be kept open and went to see it regularly, patting it and taking no notice of

9855-454: The employers. Modern token money , such as the tokens operated by local exchange trading systems (LETS), is a form of barter rather than being a true currency. The currency may be Internet-based and digital, for instance, Bitcoin is not tied to any specific country, or the IMF's SDR that is based on a basket of currencies (and assets held). Possession and sale of alternative forms of currencies

9990-507: The event of his death, his daughter should be cared for by his half-sister, Catherine of Sweden and half-brother Carl Gyllenhielm as regent. This solution did not suit Maria Eleonora, who had her sister-in-law banned from the castle. In 1634, the Instrument of Government , a new constitution, was introduced by Oxenstierna. The constitution stipulated that the "King" must have a Privy Council , which Oxenstierna himself headed. Maria Eleonora

10125-462: The execution of marchese Gian Rinaldo Monaldeschi , her master of the horse and formerly leader of the French party in Rome. For two months she had suspected Monaldeschi of disloyalty; she secretly seized his correspondence, which revealed that he had betrayed her interests. Christina gave three packages of letters to Le Bel, a priest, to keep them for her in custody. Three days later, at one o'clock on Saturday afternoon, she summoned Monaldeschi into

10260-421: The global capital inflows and outflows of countries around the world, and exchange rates will fluctuate accordingly. National policies The country's foreign trade, monetary and fiscal policies affect the exchange rate fluctuations. Foreign trade includes policies such as tariffs and import standards for commodity exports. The impact of monetary policy on the total amount and yield of money directly determines

10395-501: The help of her uncle, John Casimir , Christina tried to reduce the influence of Oxenstierna when she declared her cousin Charles Gustav as her heir presumptive. The following year, Christina resisted demands from the other estates (clergy, burghers, and peasants) in the Riksdag of the Estates for the reduction of the number of noble landholdings that were tax-exempt. She never implemented such

10530-440: The last time on 28 October 1632 at Erfurt . The very next day, Gustav Adolf broke camp and left. On 3 November, Maria wrote to Axel Oxenstierna: "without H.R.M. 's presence, I am worth nothing, not even my life." Her mother, of the House of Hohenzollern , was said to be the most beautiful queen in Europe, but she was also considered hysterical, unstable and overly emotional. It is suggested that she inherited madness, from both

10665-696: The legislative or executive authority that creates it. Several countries can use the same name for their own separate currencies (for example, a dollar in Australia , Canada , and the United States ). By contrast, several countries can also use the same currency (for example, the euro or the CFA franc ), or one country can declare the currency of another country to be legal tender . For example, Panama and El Salvador have declared US currency to be legal tender, and from 1791 to 1857, Spanish dollars were legal tender in

10800-455: The letters, Christina became interested in beginning a correspondence with Descartes. She invited him to Sweden, but Descartes was reluctant until she asked him to organize a scientific academy. Christina sent a ship to pick up the philosopher and 2,000 books. Descartes arrived on 4 October 1649. He resided with Chanut and finished his Passions of the Soul . It is highly unlikely Descartes wrote

10935-511: The librarian Lucas Holstenius , himself a convert, waited for her in Innsbruck . On 3 November 1655, Christina announced her conversion to Catholicism in the Hofkirche and wrote to Pope Alexander VII and her cousin Charles X about it. To celebrate her official conversion, L'Argia , an opera by Antonio Cesti , was performed. Ferdinand Charles, Archduke of Austria , already in financial trouble,

11070-474: The life span of banknotes and reduces counterfeiting. The currency used is based on the concept of lex monetae ; that a sovereign state decides which currency it shall use. (See Fiat currency .) In 1978 the International Organization for Standardization published a system of three-digit alphabetic codes ( ISO 4217 ) to denote currencies. These codes are based on two initial letters allocated to

11205-637: The meantime Christina learned that the Swedes had confiscated all her revenue as the princess had become a Catholic. King Philip IV of Spain ruled the Duchy of Milan and the Kingdom of Naples . The French politician Mazarin , an Italian himself, had attempted to liberate Naples from Spanish rule, against which the locals had fought before the Neapolitan Republic was created. A second expedition in 1654 had failed and

11340-459: The most valuable and were used for large purchases, payment of the military, and backing of state activities. Units of account were often defined as the value of a particular type of gold coin. Silver coins were used for midsized transactions, and sometimes also defined a unit of account, while coins of copper or silver, or some mixture of them (see debasement ), might be used for everyday transactions. This system had been used in ancient India since

11475-434: The national economy be in a normal and orderly state, that is, there is no serious inflation and economic overheating. In addition, the government should use macro policies to make mature adjustments to deal with the impact of currency exchange on the economy. The maintainability of international balance of payments is the main performance of reasonable economic structure. Currency convertibility not only causes difficulties in

11610-420: The need to transport gold and silver, which was risky; it facilitated loans of gold or silver at interest, since the underlying specie (money in the form of gold or silver coins rather than notes) never left the possession of the lender until someone else redeemed the note; and it allowed a division of currency into credit- and specie-backed forms. It enabled the sale of investment in joint-stock companies and

11745-583: The night while the servants came and went with new wax candles. The " Semiramis from the North" corresponded with Pierre Gassendi , her favorite author. Blaise Pascal offered her a copy of his pascaline . She had a firm grasp of classical history and philosophy. Christina studied Neostoicism , the Church Fathers , and Islam ; she systematically looked for a copy of the Treatise of the Three Impostors ,

11880-428: The official coinage and currency of the United States. Commonly a central bank has the exclusive power to issue all forms of currency, including coins and banknotes ( fiat money ), and to restrain the circulation alternative currencies for its own area of circulation (a country or group of countries); it regulates the production of currency by banks ( credit ) through monetary policy . An exchange rate

12015-546: The only reason affecting the exchange rate. The large number of international tourists and overseas students has resulted in the flow of services and goods at home and abroad. It also represents that the competitiveness of global goods and services directly affects the change of international exchange rates. Capital flows National currencies will be traded on international markets for investment purposes. Investment opportunities in each country attract other countries into investment programs, so that these foreign currencies become

12150-466: The palace open to visitors from the higher classes who kept themselves busy with poetry and intellectual discussions. Christina opened an academy in the palace on 24 January 1656, called Academy of Arcadia , where the participants enjoyed music, theater, and literature. The poet Reyer Anslo was presented to her. Belonging to the Arcadia-circle was also Francesco Negri , a Franciscan from Ravenna who

12285-522: The palace. In 1648, she commissioned 35 paintings from Jacob Jordaens for a ceiling in Uppsala Castle . The court poet Georg Stiernhielm wrote several plays in the Swedish language, such as Den fångne Cupido eller Laviancu de Diane , performed with Christina taking the main part of the goddess Diana . She invited foreign companies to play at Bollhuset . An Italian opera troupe visited in 1652 with Vincenzo Albrici and Angelo Michele Bartolotti ,

12420-500: The parts which pleased her, taking God to witness, throwing herself back in her chair, crossing her legs, resting them on the arms of her chair, and assuming other postures, such as I had never seen taken but by Travelin and Jodelet, two famous buffoons... She was in all respects a most extraordinary creature". Christina was treated with respect by the young Louis XIV and his mother, Anne of Austria , in Compiègne . On 22 September 1656,

12555-477: The paternal and maternal lines. However, this image of the hysterical, depressive and profligate queen dowager, which has become part of historiography , has been put into perspective in more recent research, first in the 1980s by the archivist Åke Kromnov, among others, and more recently in the monograph "Drottningen som sa nej" by Moa Matthis , published in 2010. After the king died on the battlefield on 6 November 1632, Maria Eleonora returned to Sweden with

12690-438: The people living there a medium of exchange that they can use to exchange services and locally produced goods (in a broader sense, this is the original purpose of all money). Opponents of this concept argue that local currency creates a barrier that can interfere with economies of scale and comparative advantage and that in some cases they can serve as a means of tax evasion . Local currencies can also come into being when there

12825-415: The position of head lady-in-waiting, all four with the formal rank and title of Hovmästarinna . The Royal Council's method of giving Queen Christina several foster mothers to avoid her forming an attachment to a single person appears to have been effective, as Christina did not mention her foster mothers directly in her memoirs and did not seem to have formed an attachment to any of them; in fact, with only

12960-581: The recovery of Phoenician trade in the 10th and 9th centuries BC that led to a return to prosperity, and the appearance of real coinage, possibly first in Anatolia with Croesus of Lydia and subsequently with the Greeks and Persians. In Africa, many forms of value store have been used, including beads, ingots, ivory , various forms of weapons, livestock, the manilla currency , shell money , and ochre and other earth oxides. The manilla rings of West Africa were one of

13095-503: The redemption of those shares in a paper. But there were also disadvantages. First, since a note has no intrinsic value, there was nothing to stop issuing authorities from printing more notes than they had specie to back them with. Second, because this increased the money supply, it increased inflationary pressures, a fact observed by David Hume in the 18th century. Thus paper money would often lead to an inflationary bubble, which could collapse if people began demanding hard money, causing

13230-477: The regime of floating fiat currencies came into force. One of the last countries to break away from the gold standard was the United States in 1971, an action which was known as the Nixon shock . No country has an enforceable gold standard or silver standard currency system. A banknote or a bill is a type of currency and it is commonly used as legal tender in many jurisdictions. Together with coins , banknotes make up

13365-428: The relative values of the different currencies. Currencies in this sense are either chosen by users or decreed by governments, and each type has limited boundaries of acceptance; i.e., legal tender laws may require a particular unit of account for payments to government agencies. Other definitions of the term currency appear in the respective synonymous articles: banknote , coin , and money . This article uses

13500-420: The reserves of the central banks of each country. The exchange rate mechanism, in which currencies are quoted continuously between countries, is based on foreign exchange markets in which currencies are invested by individuals and traded or speculated by central banks and investment institutions. In addition, changes in interest rates, capital market fluctuations and changes in investment opportunities will affect

13635-480: The respective diets ( Kreistage ) of three Imperial Circles : the Upper Saxon Circle , Lower Saxon Circle , and Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle ; the city of Bremen was disputed. Shortly before the conclusion of the peace settlement, she admitted Salvius into the council, against Oxenstierna's wishes. Salvius was no aristocrat, but Christina wanted the opposition to the aristocracy present. In 1649, with

13770-523: The same style when writing to women she had never met but whose writings she admired. Christina's coronation took place on 22 October 1650. Christina went to the castle of Jacobsdal , where she boarded a coronation carriage draped in black velvet embroidered in gold and pulled by three white horses. The procession to Storkyrkan was so long that when the first carriages arrived, the last ones had not yet left Jacobsdal (a distance of roughly 10.5 km or 6.5 miles). All four estates were invited to dine at

13905-476: The same year, she ordered Vossius (and Heinsius) to make a list of about 6,000 books and manuscripts to be packed and shipped to Antwerp. In February 1654, she plainly told the Council of her plans to abdicate . Oxenstierna told her she would regret her decision within a few months. In May, the Riksdag discussed her proposals. She had asked for 200,000 rikstalers a year but received dominions instead. Financially she

14040-601: The southeast. It is not known what was used as a currency for these exchanges, but it is thought that oxhide-shaped ingots of copper, produced in Cyprus , may have functioned as a currency. It is thought that the increase in piracy and raiding associated with the Bronze Age collapse , possibly produced by the Peoples of the Sea , brought the trading system of oxhide ingots to an end. It was only

14175-459: The spring of 1652. She had more conversations with them, being interested in Catholic views on sin, the immortality of the soul , rationality, and free will . The two scholars revealed her plans to Cardinal Fabio Chigi . Around May 1652 Christina, raised in the Lutheran Church of Sweden , decided to become Catholic . She sent Matthias Palbitzki to Madrid and King Philip IV of Spain sent

14310-766: The structure now standing. During the Napoleonic occupation of Rome, the palace hosted Joseph Bonaparte . Today, the palace hosts some offices of the National Academy of Science ( Accademia dei Lincei ) and the Galleria Corsini . The gardens, which rise up the Janiculum hill, are part of the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Roma "La Sapienza" , a botanical garden . This also, is not the sole Palazzo Corsini in Italy; there are

14445-495: The subsequent years, Christina thrived in the company of her aunt Catherine and her family. In 1638, after the death of her aunt and foster mother, the Royal Regency Council under Axel Oxenstierna saw the need to appoint a new foster mother to the underage monarch, which resulted in a reorganization of the queen's household. To prevent the young queen from being dependent upon a single individual and favorite mother figure,

14580-439: The supply-demand relationship of different currencies determines the exchange ratio between currencies. Trade in goods and services Through cost transfer, goods and services circulating in the country (such as hotels, tourism, catering, advertising, household services) will indirectly affect the trade cost of goods and services and the price of export trade. Therefore, services and goods involved in international trade are not

14715-432: The sustainability of international balance of payments but also affects the government's direct control over international economic transactions. To eliminate the foreign exchange shortage, the government needs adequate international reserves. The level of exchange rate is an important factor in maintaining exchange rate stability, both before and after currency convertibility. The exchange rate of freely convertible currency

14850-430: The ten years of her reign, the number of noble families increased from 300 to about 600, rewarding people such as Lennart Torstenson , Louis De Geer and Johan Palmstruch for their efforts. These donations took place with such haste that they were not always registered, and on some occasions, the same piece of land was given away twice. Christina abdicated her throne on 6 June 1654 in favor of Charles Gustav. During

14985-534: The throne to her cousin Charles X Gustav and settled in Rome. Pope Alexander VII described Christina as "a queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame." She played a leading part in the theatrical and musical communities and protected many Baroque artists, composers, and musicians. Christina, who was the guest of five consecutive popes and a symbol of the Counter-Reformation ,

15120-576: The time of the Mahajanapadas . The exact ratios between the values of the three metals varied greatly between different eras and places; for example, the opening of silver mines in the Harz mountains of central Europe made silver relatively less valuable, as did the flood of New World silver after the Spanish conquests . However, the rarity of gold consistently made it more valuable than silver, and likewise silver

15255-548: The type normally only afforded to boys. When Gustav Adolf did not come home as expected after the summer campaign of 1630, Maria wrote to John Casimir, her brother-in-law that she could not stand it; she wanted to die. She begged him to try to persuade the king to come home. It was decided that Maria would travel to Germany the following spring. She arrived on 10 July 1631, to Wolgast in Pomerania. On 11 January 1632, she met with her spouse near Hanau . The couple were spotted for

15390-629: The winter Christina lived in the apostolic palace in Pesaro, probably to flee the plague which infested several regions including Naples. During the Naples Plague (1656) almost half of the population died within two years. In July 1657, she returned to France, either being impatient or not so anxious to become queen of Naples. On 15 October 1657 apartments were assigned to her at the Palace of Fontainebleau , where she committed an action that stained her memory:

15525-399: The world, local currency can be converted to another currency or vice versa with or without central bank/government intervention. Such conversions take place in the foreign exchange market . Based on the above restrictions or free and readily conversion features, currencies are classified as: According to the three aspects of trade in goods and services , capital flows and national policies,

15660-638: Was a form of receipt, representing grain stored in temple granaries in Sumer in ancient Mesopotamia and in Ancient Egypt . In this first stage of currency, metals were used as symbols to represent value stored in the form of commodities. This formed the basis of trade in the Fertile Crescent for over 1500 years. However, the collapse of the Near Eastern trading system pointed to a flaw: in an era where there

15795-463: Was a member of the House of Vasa and the Queen of Sweden in her own right from 1632 until her abdication in 1654. Her conversion to Catholicism and refusal to marry led her to relinquish her throne and move to Rome. The Swedish queen is remembered as one of the most erudite women of the 17th century, wanting Stockholm to become the "Athens of the North" and was given the special right to establish

15930-650: Was chased around in an adjacent room before they finally succeeded in dealing him a fatal wound in his throat. "In the end, he died, confessing his infamy and admitting [Santinelli's] innocence, protesting that he had invented the whole fantastic story in order to ruin [him]." Father Le Bel was told to have him buried inside the church, and Christina, seemingly unfazed, paid an abbey to say a number of Masses for his soul. She "was sorry that she had been forced to undertake this execution, but claimed that justice had been carried out for his crime and betrayal. Mazarin , who had sent her old friend Chanut, advised Christina to place

16065-510: Was chiefly occupied with her studies, she slept three to four hours a night, forgot to comb her hair, donned her clothes in a hurry and wore men's shoes for the sake of convenience. (In fact, her permanent bed-head became her trademark look in paintings. ) When Christina left Sweden, she continued to write passionate letters to her intimate friend Ebba Sparre, in which she told her that she would always love her. However, such emotional letters were relatively common at that time, and Christina would use

16200-433: Was considered very difficult, and in 1636 she lost her parental rights to her daughter. The Riksråd justified its decision by asserting that she neglected Christina and her upbringing and that she had a bad influence on her daughter ... Chancellor Oxenstierna saw no other solution than to exile the widow to Gripsholm castle, while the governing regency council would decide when she was allowed to see her daughter. For

16335-559: Was consistently worth more than copper. In premodern China , the need for lending and for a medium of exchange that was less physically cumbersome than large numbers of copper coins led to the introduction of paper money , i.e. banknotes . Their introduction was a gradual process that lasted from the late Tang dynasty (618–907) into the Song dynasty (960–1279). It began as a means for merchants to exchange heavy coinage for receipts of deposit issued as promissory notes by wholesalers ' shops. These notes were valid for temporary use in

16470-480: Was created during the 7th–12th centuries on the basis of the expanding levels of circulation of a stable high-value currency (the dinar ). Innovations introduced by Muslim economists, traders and merchants include the earliest uses of credit , cheques , promissory notes , savings accounts , transaction accounts , loaning , trusts , exchange rates , the transfer of credit and debt , and banking institutions for loans and deposits . In Europe, paper currency

16605-692: Was crowned later on that day. Christina left the country within a few days. In the summer of 1654, Christina left Sweden in men's clothing with the help of Bernardino de Rebolledo and rode as Count Dohna through Denmark. Relations between the two countries were still so tense that a former Swedish queen could not have traveled safely in Denmark. Christina had already packed and shipped abroad valuable books, paintings, statues, and tapestries from her Stockholm castle, leaving its treasures severely depleted. Christina visited Frederick III, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and, while there, thought that her successor should have

16740-523: Was first introduced on a regular basis in Sweden in 1661 (although Washington Irving records an earlier emergency use of it, by the Spanish in a siege during the Conquest of Granada ). As Sweden was rich in copper, many copper coins were in circulation, but its relatively low value necessitated extraordinarily big coins, often weighing several kilograms. The advantages of paper currency were numerous: it reduced

16875-403: Was in the letters, but according to Le Bel, it is supposed to have dealt with her "amours", either with Monaldeschi or another person. She herself wrote her version of the story for circulation in Europe. Currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange , for example banknotes and coins . A more general definition

17010-550: Was lodged in the mansion of a Jewish merchant. She was visited by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria ; the Prince de Condé , the ambassador Pierre Chanut , as well as the former governor of Norway, Hannibal Sehested . In the afternoons, she went for a ride, and each evening, parties were held; there was always a play to watch or music to listen to. Christina quickly ran out of money and had to sell some of her tapestries, silverware, and jewelry. When her financial situation did not improve,

17145-498: Was no place that was safe to store value, the value of a circulating medium could only be as sound as the forces that defended that store. A trade could only reach as far as the credibility of that military. By the late Bronze Age , however, a series of treaties had established safe passage for merchants around the Eastern Mediterranean , spreading from Minoan Crete and Mycenae in the northwest to Elam and Bahrain in

17280-423: Was not until the mid 13th century that a standard and uniform government issue of paper money became an acceptable nationwide currency. The already widespread methods of woodblock printing and then Bi Sheng 's movable type printing by the 11th century were the impetus for the mass production of paper money in premodern China. At around the same time in the medieval Islamic world , a vigorous monetary economy

17415-420: Was preparing for war against Pomerania , which meant that her income from there was considerably reduced. The pope and Philip IV of Spain could not support her openly either, as she was not publicly a Catholic yet. Christina succeeded in arranging a major loan, leaving books and statues to settle her debts. In September, she left for Italy with her entourage of 255 persons and 247 horses. The pope's messenger,

17550-707: Was secured through a pension and revenue from the town of Norrköping , the isles of Gotland , Öland , Ösel , and Poel , Wolgast and Neukloster in Mecklenburg , and estates in Pomerania . Her plan to convert was not the only reason for her abdication, as there was increasing discontent with her arbitrary and wasteful ways. Within ten years, she and Oxenstierna had created 17 counts , 46 barons , and 428 lesser nobles . To provide these new peers with adequate appanages , they had sold or mortgaged crown property representing an annual income of 1,200,000 rikstalers . During

17685-726: Was signed in October 1648, effectively ending the European wars of religion . Sweden received an indemnity of five million thalers , used primarily to pay its troops. Sweden further received Western Pomerania (henceforth Swedish Pomerania ), Wismar , the Archbishopric of Bremen , and the Bishopric of Verden as hereditary fiefs, thus gaining a seat and vote in the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire and in

17820-435: Was strongly opposed to this and was again backed by Christina. The Book of Concord was not introduced. In 1651, after reigning for almost twenty years, working at least ten hours a day, Christina had a nervous breakdown or burn out . For an hour, she seemed to be dead. She suffered from high blood pressure and complained about bad eyesight and her crooked back. She had already seen many court physicians. In February 1652,

17955-472: Was then that she received from the pope her second name of Alexandra, the feminine form of his own." She was granted her own wing inside the Vatican, decorated by Bernini. Christina's visit to Rome was the triumph of Pope Alexander VII and the occasion for splendid Baroque festivities. For several months, she was the only preoccupation of the Pope and his court. The nobles vied for her attention and treated her to

18090-633: Was to assure the individual accepting the coin that he was getting a certain known weight of precious metal. Coins could be counterfeited, but the existence of standard coins also created a new unit of account , which helped lead to banking . Archimedes' principle provided the next link: coins could now be easily tested for their fine weight of the metal, and thus the value of a coin could be determined, even if it had been shaved, debased or otherwise tampered with (see Numismatics ). Most major economies using coinage had several tiers of coins of different values, made of copper, silver, and gold. Gold coins were

18225-617: Was visited by a group of Dutch diplomats, including Johan de Witt , to find a solution for the Sound Dues . In the Treaty of Brömsebro , signed at a creek in Blekinge , Denmark added the isles of Gotland and Ösel to Christina's domain while Norway lost the districts of Jämtland and Härjedalen to her. Under Christina's rule, Sweden, virtually controlling the Baltic Sea , had unrestricted access to

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