1935 King GUSTAF V of Sweden Large Quality Old Silver Coin 5 Kronor i45012

Item: i45012

Authentic Coin of:

Sweden

Gustaf V – King: 8 December 1907 – 29 October 1950
Silver 5 Kronor Coin 36mm (24.99 grams) .7234 ASW (ounces of pure silver)

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Authenticity.

Gustaf
V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf 16 June 1858 – 29 October 1950) was
King of Sweden
from 1907. He was the eldest son
of King
Oscar II of Sweden
and
Sophia of Nassau
, a half-sister of
Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
. Reigning
from the death of his father
Oscar II
in 1907 until his own death 43 years
later, he holds the record of being the oldest monarch of Sweden and the
second-longest reigning after
Magnus IV
(the longest as an adult). He was
also the last Swedish monarch to exercise his royal prerogatives, which largely
died with him, although formally abolished only with the
remaking of the Swedish constitution in 1974
.
He was the first Swedish king since the High Middle Ages not to have a
coronation
and hence never wore a crown, a
tradition continuing to date.

Gustaf ascended the throne in 1907, and his early reign saw the rise of
parliamentary rule
in Sweden, although the
leadup to World War I
pre-empted
his overthrow of Liberal Prime Minister

Karl Staaff
in 1914, replacing him with his own
figurehead
Hjalmar Hammarskjöld
(father of
Dag Hammarskjöld
) for most of the war. However,
after the
Liberals
and
Social Democrats
secured a parliamentary
majority under Staaff’s successor,
Nils Edén
, he allowed Edén to form a new
government which de facto stripped the monarchy of all virtual powers and
enacted
universal and equal suffrage
, including for
women, by 1919. Bowing fully to the principles of parliamentary democracy, he
remained a popular figurehead for the remaining 31 years of his rule, although
not completely without influence – during
World War II
he allegedly urged
Per Albin Hansson
‘s coalition government to
accept requests from
Nazi Germany
for logistics support, refusing
which might have provoked an invasion. This remains controversial to date,
although he is not known to have shown much support for
fascism
or radical nationalism; his pro-German
and anti-Communist stance was well known also in
World War I
.

Following his death at age 92, he was implicated as a
homosexual
in the
Haijby affair
. His supposed lover – career
criminal and accused
pedophile
Kurt Haijby – was imprisoned in 1952
for blackmail
of the court in the 1930s.
(Homosexuality was a criminal offense in Sweden until 1944, though Gustaf’s
position would have granted automatic immunity.) An avid hunter and sportsman,
he presided over the
1912 Olympic Games
and chaired the Swedish
Association of Sports from 1897 to 1907. Most notably, he represented Sweden
(under the alias of Mr G.) as a competitive
tennis
player, keeping up competitive tennis
until his 80s, when his eyesight deteriorated rapidly.^[1][2]

Early life

Gustaf V was born in
Drottningholm Palace
in
Ekerö
,
Stockholm County
, the son of
Prince Oscar
and
Princess Sofia
. At birth Gustaf was created

Duke of
Värmland
. Upon his father’s accession to the
throne in 1872, Gustaf became crown prince of both Sweden and
Norway
. On 8 December 1907, he succeeded his
father on the Swedish throne, which had been separated from the Norwegian throne
two years earlier.

On 20 September 1881 he married Princess
Victoria of Baden
in
Karlsruhe
, Germany. She was the granddaughter
of
Princess Sophie of Sweden
, and her marriage to
Gustaf V united, by a real blood link (and not only adoption), the reigning
Bernadotte
dynasty with the former royal house
of
Holstein-Gottorp
.

Public life

 

Meeting of the three kings in
Malmö
, 18 December 1914:
Haakon VII of Norway
, Gustaf V, and
Christian X of Denmark
.

When he ascended the throne, Gustaf V at least on paper was a
near-autocrat
. The
1809 Instrument of Government
made the king
both head of state and head of government and ministers were solely responsible
to him. However, his father had been forced to accept a government chosen by the
majority in Parliament in 1905. Since then, prime ministers had been chosen
according to parliamentary support, notwithstanding the Instrument’s stipulation
that “the King alone shall govern the realm.”

At first, Gustaf V seemed to be willing to accept
parliamentary rule
. After the
Liberals
won a massive landslide in 1911,
Gustaf appointed Liberal leader
Karl Staaff
as Prime Minister. However, during
the runup to World War I, the elites objected to Staaff’s defence policy. In
February 1914, a large crowd of farmers
gathered at the royal palace
and demanded that
the country’s defences be strengthened. In his reply, the so-called
Courtyard Speech
, Gustaf promised to strengthen
the country’s defences. Staaff was outraged, telling the king parliamentary rule
called for the Crown to stay out of partisan politics. He was also angered that
he had not been consulted in advance of the speech. However, Gustaf retorted
that he had the right “communicate freely with the Swedish people.” The Staaff
government resigned in protest, and Gustaf appointed a civil servant government
headed by
Hjalmar Hammarskjöld
(father of
Dag Hammarskjöld
) in its place. To date, it is
the last time that a Swedish king directly intervened in the governing of the
country.

The 1917 elections showed a heavy gain for the Liberals and
Social Democrats
. It was now apparent that
Gustaf could no longer appoint a government entirely of his own choosing, nor
could he keep a government in office against the will of Parliament. With no
choice but to appoint a Liberal as prime minister, he appointed a Liberal-Social
Democratic coalition government headed by Staaff’s successor as Liberal leader,
Nils Edén
. The Edén government promptly
stripped the monarchy of most of its powers and enacted numerous reforms, most
notably the institution of complete (male and female) universal suffrage in
1918–1919. While Gustaf still formally appointed the ministers, they now had to
have the confidence of Parliament. He was now also bound to act on the
ministers’ advice, so for all intents and purposes the ministers did the actual
governing. Gustaf accepted his reduced role, and reigned for the rest of his
life as a model limited constitutional monarch. Parliamentarianism had become a
de facto reality in Sweden even if it would not be formalized until 1974.

Gustaf V was considered to have German sympathies during World War I. His
political stance during the war was highly influenced by his wife, who felt a
strong connection to her German homeland. On 18 December 1914, he sponsored a
meeting in Malmö
with the other two kings of Scandinavia
to demonstrate unity. Another of Gustaf V’s objectives was to dispel suspicions
that he wanted to bring Sweden into the war on Germany’s side.

Nazi sympathies

Swedish Royalty
House of Bernadotte

Charles XIV John Children    Oscar I Oscar I Children    Charles XV    Prince Gustaf, Duke of Uppland    Oscar II    Princess Eugenie    Prince August, Duke of Dalarna Charles XV Children    Lovisa, Queen of Denmark    Prince Carl Oscar, Duke of Södermanland Oscar II Children    Gustaf V    Prince Oscar, Duke of Gotland    Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland    Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke Grandchildren    Margaretha, Princess Axel of Denmark    Märtha, Crown Princess of Norway    Astrid, Queen of Belgium    Prince Carl, Duke of Östergötland Gustaf V Children    Gustaf VI Adolf    Prince Vilhelm, Duke of Södermanland    Prince Erik, Duke of Västmanland Grandchildren    Prince Lennart, Duke of Småland Gustaf VI Adolf Children    Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten    Prince Sigvard, Duke of Uppland    Ingrid, Queen of Denmark    Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland    Prince Carl Johan, Duke of Dalarna Grandchildren    Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler    Birgitta, Princess Johann Georg of Hohenzollern    Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld    Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson    Carl XVI Gustaf Carl XVI Gustaf Children    Crown Princess Victoria, Duchess of Västergötland    Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland    Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland Grandchildren    Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland    Princess Leonore, Duchess of Gotland

 

Prince Gustav Adolf
,
Hermann Göring
and King Gustaf V in
Berlin, February 1939

Both the King and his grandson
Prince Gustav Adolf
socialized with certain
Nazi
leaders before World War II, though
arguably for diplomatic purposes. Gustaf V attempted to convince Hitler during a
visit to Berlin to soften his persecution of the Jews, according to historian
Jörgen Weibull. He was also noted for appealing to the leader of Hungary to save
its Jews “in the name of humanity.” At the behest of
American President

Franklin D. Roosevelt
, Gustaf V appealed to
Hitler for peace negotiations in 1938, “in the interest of peace”.

When Nazi Germany invaded the
Soviet Union
in June 1941, Gustaf V tried to
write a private letter to Hitler thanking him for taking care of the “Bolshevik
pest” and congratulating him on his “already achieved victories”. He was stopped
from doing so by the Prime Minister
Hansson
. Nevertheless, the King sent the
message to Hitler (through a telegram by the German embassy in Stockholm) behind
the back of the Government.^{[citation
needed]}

Midsummer crisis 1941

According to Prime Minister
Per Albin Hansson
during the
Midsummer crisis
, the King in a private
conversation had threatened to abdicate if the Government did not approve a
German request to transfer a fighting infantry division – the so-called
Engelbrecht Division
– through Swedish
territory from southern Norway to northern Finland in June 1941, around
Midsummer
. The accuracy of this claim is
debated, and the King’s intention (if he did in fact make this threat) is
sometimes alleged to be his desire to avoid conflict with Germany. This event
has later received considerable attention from Swedish historians and is known
as midsommarkrisen, the
Midsummer Crisis
.

Confirmation of the King’s action is contained in German Foreign Policy
documents captured at the end of the war. On 25 June 1941, the German Minister
in Stockholm sent a “Most Urgent-Top Secret” message to Berlin in which he
stated that the King had just informed him that the
transit of German troops
would be allowed. He
added:

The King’s words conveyed the joyful emotion he felt. He had lived
through anxious days and had gone far in giving his personal support to the
matter. He added confidentially that he had found it necessary to go so far
as to mention his abdication.

According to
Ernst Wigforss
, both Gustaf V and Prince Gustav
Adolf attempted to persuade the Swedish Government to allow the Allies to
transport troops through Sweden, though this was rejected by the Government
because it was felt it would cause retributions from Germany.^{[citation
needed]}

Personal life

Gustaf V was tall and thin. He wore
pince-nez
eyeglasses and sported a pointed
mustache for most of his teen years.

Gustaf V was a devoted tennis player, appearing under the pseudonym Mr G.
As a player and promoter of the sport, he was elected into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame
in 1980. The
King learned the sport during a visit in Britain in 1876 and founded Sweden’s
first tennis club on his return home. In 1936 he founded the King’s Club. During
his reign, Gustaf was often seen playing on the
Riviera
. On a visit to Berlin, Gustaf went
straight from a meeting with Hitler to a tennis match with the Jewish player
Daniel Prenn
. During World War II, he
interceded to obtain better treatment for Davis Cup stars
Jean Borotra
of France and
Gottfried von Cramm
of Germany, who had been
imprisoned by the German Government.

Haijby affair

Allegations of a love affair between Gustav and Kurt Haijby led to the court
paying 170,000
kronor
under threat of blackmail by Haijby.
This led to the so-called
Haijby affair
and several criticized trials and
convictions against Haijby which spawned considerable controversy about Gustav’s
alleged homosexuality.

Death

After a reign
of nearly 43 years, King Gustaf V died in
Stockholm
, due to flu complications on 29
October 1950.

Arms

Upon his creation as Duke of Varmland, Gustaf V was granted a coat of arms
with the Arms of Varmland in base. Upon his accession to the throne, he assumed
the Arms of Dominion of Sweden.

Arms as crown prince from 1872 to 1905

Arms as crown prince from 1905 to 1907

Greater Coat of Arms of Sweden

Royal Monogram of King Gustaf V of Sweden

Honours

Foreign Honours

King Gustaf V was the 1,062nd
Knight
of the
Order of the Golden Fleece
in Spain, the 828th
Knight of the
Order of the Garter
in 1905 and the 216th
Grand Cross
of the
Order of the Tower and Sword
.

• 
   United
  Kingdom 828th Knight of the
  Garter
  1906.
• 
   United
  Kingdom Honorary Knight Grand Cross (Civil) of the
  Order of the Bath
  19 February 1901^[8]
• 
   United
  Kingdom
  Royal Victorian Chain