4 Mark Sweden Silver

1844, Sweden, Charles XIV. Silver 4 Mark (1/3 Riksdaler) Coin

Mint
Year: 1844

Reference: KM-M62. 

Denomination: 4 Mark (1/3 Riksdaler ) -  Largesse money/medal (kastmynt) to the King’s Funeral.

Weight: 12.45gm

Diameter: 31mm

Material: Silver

Obverse: Head of Charles XIV as King of Sweden and Norway right.

Legend: CARL XIV SVERIGES NORR . GÖTH . OCH V. KONUNG

Reverse: Charles John’s porphyry sarcophagus inside of Stockholm’s Riddarholm Church.

Legend: AF LIFVET MÄRMADE I BRAGDER AF DÖDEN I HVILA * DEN 8 MARKS 1844 *

On 26 January 1844, his 81st birthday, Charles John was found unconscious in his chambers having suffered a stroke. While he regained consciousness, he never fully recovered and died on the afternoon of 8 March.On his deathbed, he was heard to say:

"Nobody has had a career in life like mine. I could perhaps have been able to agree to become Napoleon’s ally: but when he attacked the country that had placed its fate in my hands, he could find in me no other than an opponent. The events that shook Europe and that gave her back her freedom are known. It is also known which part I played in that."

His remains were interred after a state funeral in Stockholm’s Riddarholm Church. He was succeeded by his only son, Oscar I.

Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan (26 January 1763 – 8 March 1844) was King of Sweden (as Charles XIV John) and King of Norway (as Charles III John) from 1818 until his death. Before he became king, he was also the Sovereign Prince of Pontecorvo, in Southern Italy, between 1806 and 1810.

He was born Jean Bernadotte, distinguished from a namesake brother by the addition of Baptiste and had the full name of Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte by the time Karl also was added upon his Swedish adoption in 1810. He did not use Bernadotte in Sweden but founded the royal dynasty there by that name.

French by birth, Bernadotte served a long career in the French Army. He was appointed as a Marshal of France by Napoleon I, though the two had a turbulent relationship. His service to France ended in 1810, when he was elected the heir-presumptive to the Swedish throne because the Swedish royal family was dying out with King Charles XIII. Baron Carl Otto Mörner (22 May 1781 – 17 August 1868), who was a Swedish courtier, and obscure member of the Diet, advocated for the succession.