101967 | UNITED STATES & SWEDEN. Centennial of Swedish Pioneers silver Medal.

101967  |  UNITED STATES & SWEDEN. Gustaf V/Centennial of Swedish Pioneers in America silver Medal. Issued 1948 (38mm, 32.59 g, 12h). By L. Holmgren at the Stockholm mint.

 

GUSTAVUS • V REX • SVECIÆ, head left; crown above / View of the globe highlighting outline of the eastern half of North America (reading AMERIKA) and the Scandinavian peninsula (reading SVERIGE); clouds above and below, with polar star, five geese flying westward, and six line legend: TILL MINNE AV / DE SVENSKA PIONJÄRERNA / TO THE COMMEMORATION / OF THE SWEDISH / PIONEERS / 1848–1948. Edge: MV SILVER 1948; includes clasp and ribbon.

 

Rulau –. Mint State details. Deep gunmetal gray surfaces, with a few subtle abrasions accounting for the designation.

 

The seemingly endless opportunities present in the vast and expanding American midwest caused waves of Swedish pioneers to emigrate from Sweden around and shortly after 1848. Areas of Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan, in particular, saw a great deal of Swedish imigration, with that Scandinavian history still easily observed to this day. In commemoration of the centennial of this first wave of pioneers, this award medal was issued, paralleling the celebrations from a decade prior for Sweden's colonial foothold in and around what is now Delaware.