[76] Svart, Gust. I.'s krön., pp. 64-65. Svart, whose chronicle was written with a view to flatter Gustavus, informs us of the reduction in the value at which the coin was issued, and appears to attribute this reduction to the generosity of his master. It was "a good fat coin," he adds, which merchants carried out of the country as an excellent piece of merchandise. The zeal with which the chronicler defends the coin is enough to raise suspicion as to its true value. If it was really worth an öre and a half, it is incredible that Gustavus in the strait in which he then was should have ultimately given it for an öre. Forssell, in his Anteckn. om mynt, vigt, mått och varupris i Sverige, pp. 44-51, suggests that probably the coin was first issued for an öre and a half, and then with the same size and weight but containing more alloy, was issued for an öre. I think the true explanation is more simple. Gustavus had been found out. The "klippings" which he had issued a year before were such a palpable fraud that the Danish commandant of Stockholm had actually forbidden their use, lest the Danish "klippings" (which were about as bad as anything could be) might through association with the others fall into ill repute. Christ. II.'s arkiv, vol. i. pp. 214 and 218. So that when he issued a new coin and called it an öre and a half, people were suspicious and refused to take it till he reduced it to something like its value. This view is strengthened by the fact that of the few extant coins of Gustavus, dated 1522, not one contains enough silver to have been worth an öre and a half, and most of them fall considerably below the value of an öre. It is noticeable also that those stamped 1523, which were presumably issued for an öre, contain a trifle more in value than those stamped 1522, and called an öre and a half. As none of them have any value stamped upon their face, it was a simple matter to start the figure high, and then reduce it to what the coin would bring.
[77] As to Church fees and incomes see a letter of Brask, dated Dec. 21, 1514, in Hist. handl., vol. viii. pp. 65-67.
[78] Svart, Gust. I.'s krön., p. 58.
[79] Von der graüsamen tyrannischen myssehandelung; Svart, Gust. I.'s krön., pp. 56-58; and Sver. trakt., vol. iv. pp. 35-44.
[80] Johannes Magni, Hist. pont., pp. 74-75; Svart, Gust. I.'s krön., p. 70; and Kon. Gust. den Förstes registrat., vol. i. pp. 88-89.
[81] Svart, Gust. I.'s krön., p. 73; Kon. Gust. den Förstes registrat., vol. i. pp. 97, 99-101, 108-111, 114-115, 119, and 298-300; and Linköping, Bibliotheks handl., vol. ii. pp. 204-205.
[82] Kon. Gust. den Förstes registrat., vol. i. pp. 107-108 and 121-129; Forssell, Sver. inre hist., vol. ii. p. 72; and Sver. trakt., vol. iv. pp. 44-55, 65-67, and 69-74.
[83] Kon. Gust. den Förstes registrat., vol. i. pp. 121-129.