Found

The 1982-83 excavation seasons found what would prove to be the largest treasure of minted gold ever made in our country. Deep down in the wreck, among the remains of a broken wooden box, 255 gold coins and several silver and copper coins were found. Among the coins were also other objects such as navigational instruments, tools, a broken glass bottle and a gold ring. The coins are minted during the period late 15th century to the sinking year 1676.

The places of embossing vary greatly. Places such as Cairo, Seville, Reval (now Tallinn), Aleppo in Syria and Gümüşhane in Turkey are represented among the coins. The actual value of the gold coins is calculated at 550 riksdaler. This corresponds to approximately one third of the National Admiral's annual salary. However, the great value of the coin tax is really the historical one.

Gold coins were a relatively unusual means of payment in 17th century Sweden. The krona coins also have a large geographical and temporal spread. This may mean that the tax already in the 17th century constituted a coin collection or wealth symbol. Some indications are that the tax may have belonged to Acting Admiral Lorentz Creutz. To illustrate the large class differences that prevailed in the society of that time, it can be mentioned that an ordinary daily wage worker would have had to work 10-20 years to earn together to the value of the tax. This can be compared with the National Admiral's third annual salary. In this context, it should be remembered that senior officers were often made personally responsible for material losses in the navy. The fines imposed on the debtor could amount to very high amounts. Most of the gold coins in the Crown's treasure are so-called ducats. This international gold coin was introduced in Sweden in 1654. The fine weight of the ducat was 3.39 grams. In the Crown Tax, there are both single, double and ten ducats. Coins and coin counting varied greatly during the 17th century. The value of the tax is calculated at 297 ducats = 550 riksdaler = 14,300 marks km (copper coins) = 3,575 daler km = 1,191 daler 21 1/3 öre sm (silver coins), based on 1 daler sm = 3 daler km, 32 öre on each daler, 8 öre on each land.

Some price comparisons:

km = copper coin

1 day's work = 24 öre - 1 daler 16 öre k m.

1 thin salmon (just over 125 l) = 60 daler k m.

1 thin beef = 21 daler km (the pork was more expensive!).

1 thin rye (approx. 150 l) = 5-8 daler k m.

1 thin wheat = 15 daler km (wheat was unusual in Sweden at this time).

1 aln simpler fabric = 8 daler k m.

1 aln velvet = 24 daler k m.

1 pair of patch gloves = 18 öre k m.

1 thin beer (125 l) = 20-25 daler k m.

1 book (house postilla) = 25 daler 16 öre k m.

Postage Stockholm - Vadstena = 9 öre km per lot (13 grams).

Another gold coin treasure was found at the wreck site in the summer of 2000 when an area of Kronan's cable car was examined. Among quantities of crushed objects, 46 gold ducats were found well collected, indicating that they originally lay in some form of container. The majority of the coins are from the United Netherlands and the German-Roman Empire. They were struck between the years 1559 and 1675. The owner of the coins is unknown, but he must be sought among the higher command on board the ship. The tax is the fourth largest gold coin tax found in Sweden.

The silver coin taxes

In the summer of 1989, the largest silver coin treasure ever found in Swedish waters was exposed. Just under 1,000 coins, the oldest battle in Gelderland in the Netherlands in the 1520s, were well collected on the lower deck. In the summers of 2005 and 2006, the 1989 silver tax was far exceeded. A total of more than 20,000 silver coins with a total weight of 60 kg have been found in two chests. The container of 2005, a wicker basket chest, turned out to contain a silver coin treasure of 6,500 silver coins, of which about 6,200 4 trout, all minted in 1675 bearing the monogram master Daniel Faxell's monogram. Other coins consisted of about 200 Central European land and Thaler coins from the 1620s and some copper coins. The weight of the tax amounts to 27 kg. About 600 brass and silver buttons as well as high-end clothes were also found in the basket coffin. The coins are probably intended as a cash register for the master. Under normal circumstances, wages were paid on land. The fact that a tin dish carrying Acting Admiral Lorentz Creutz and his wife Elsa Duvall's initials was found next to the treasure, indicates that the coins may also have belonged to Creutz.

Right next to a 36-pound cannon from the lower deck, a scarlet uniform-like jacket was found in 1991. At the time of the find, parts of the owner's skeleton remained in the jacket. The preserved skeletal parts show that the man was relatively small in stature. The find is interesting mainly due to the jacket's high degree of preservation and the uniform-like attributes found on the sleeves. The jacket probably belonged to a person of high rank.

At this time, there was no standardized uniform in the Swedish navy. It only comes a hundred years later. Despite this, there are transverse stripes on the bottom of the sleeves. These uniform attributes are unique to this era. Since no comparative material is available, it is currently difficult to interpret the origin and meaning of the jacket. Perhaps further finds from the Crown can shed light on this mystery. There is a preserved specific record of what the captain of the admiral ship Svärdet, Olof Nortman, had with him for clothes on board and lost when the ship sank hours after the Kronan. He had "two robes, a pie-coat, a raincoat, a new wolf-skin coat, a pair of wolf-skin gloves, two hats, twelve scarves, thirteen pairs of woolen, red yarn and thread stockings, a pair of silk stockings". The crown kept the commoners - i.e. the simple crewmen - with clothing during service. However, it was not a question of any kind of uniform. A "boatman's outfit" consisted of a jacket and shorts. At some point, preferably in the winter, the crew received a shirt, a pair of long socks and a pair of shoes. However, no headgear was included! The jacket and trousers were of blue cloth, the socks of wool and the shoes of butter leather. Remains of this simple garment are now being unearthed at the wreck site. The commoners consisted of boatmen and gunners. The boatmen sailed the ship and the gunners handled the guns - the cannons. Sweden at the time was divided into 3 regiments with a total of 17 companies of boatmen and riflemen.

The trumpet found on Kronan's middle deck is a sophisticated orchestral trumpet made in Nuremberg in 1654 by instrument maker Michael Nagel. Music archaeologists are amazed at the discovery because one would hardly expect to find such an instrument on a warship. Trumpets for ceremonial use were much easier to make. The find shows that the Crown as an admiral ship and the pride of the navy had a special status.

Several musical instruments have been found at Kronan's wreck site. Remains of three violins and a viola da gamba - a cello-like instrument - are interesting string instruments on board. In addition, a drum and fragments of another possible trumpet have been excavated. Musical instruments could also include other tone-creating objects such as the ship's bell and the boatman's barrel salvaged from the wreck. Exactly who dealt with the instruments found is difficult to say. There were both trumpeters and drummers on board. It is most likely, however, that the more advanced instruments belonged to some of the higher command on board and were used for private use. A tragic story with a musical connection is the fate of the Ram family. Trumpeter Sven Olofsson Ram and his two sons, trumpeter Olof Svensson Ram and puck player Hans Svensson Ram all died when the Crown went under.

In the border area between the lowest of the three gun decks and the underlying cable deck, two intact hourglasses were found during the excavations. The find was unexpected to say the least as the area consisted mostly of crushed material. The reason why the hourglasses were preserved was that they ended up in a pocket with sailcloth and rope and thus "packaged". At the time of discovery, the original fine-grained sand was still in the glass. The smaller of the two hour glasses is probably a so-called log glass that was used when calculating the ship's speed.

Hourglass was used to measure time. Often there were three glasses on board. Two larger ones that were intended for the guard service that were divided into four-hour shifts, and a smaller one that was used for the so-called logging. During logging, the ship's speed was measured by throwing a sector - shaped wooden board attached to a rope with knots (knots) into the water. After 30 seconds, the log was taken in and the number of knots on the line that expired was counted. The speed could then be specified in knots.

One of the first finds found at the wreck site was a cabinet. It was excavated at the stern of the wreck where the ship's officers had their quarters. The cabinet is 42 cm long, 29 cm high and consists of nine drawers. Before the find was opened after salvage, an X-ray was taken. The X-ray showed several of the objects inside the cabinet. With the help of the information provided by the picture, the conservators were able to open the cabinet in a suitable way.

The cabinet cabinet contained no less than 54 items. Navigational instruments such as a sundial, compasses, a ruler and a protractor were found. There was also a pipe scratcher, coins, pens, tools and cutlery. The cabinet most certainly belonged to one of the officers at the Crown. The vast majority of the ship's crew had significantly fewer items on board. In their pack there was perhaps a spoon, a mug, some coins and tools. Finds of chalk pipes show that tobacco use was widespread. During breaks, the crewmen were allowed to "supa" - i.e. smoke - their tobacco in chalk pipes made of burnt clay in a special place in the ship. The use of fire on board was very limited due to the risk of fire.

In 1987, a 155 cm high and 60 kg heavy wooden sculpture was found that belonged to the exterior decoration of the Crown. At the time of the discovery, both iron nails and paint remnants remained on the impressive figure. When the sculpture was salvaged, it floated on the water surface. After 311 years on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, it was still not submerged. The sculpture depicting a man wearing a Roman warrior costume is probably the Palatinate king Karl X Gustav. The foot position isk contrapost, the curved nose, the plum-crowned helmet and the considerable belly, are all attributes that belong to a man with great power and high position. The importance of depicting the autocratic king by the grace of God was an equally natural and obvious manifestation at this time. In a larger perspective, the entire ship Kronan must be seen as a manifestation of power and ideals. The crown is therefore both a war machine and a palace decorated in accordance with the style ideal of the time, the baroque.

The ship's embellishments had the task of educating and teaching the viewer of virtues and ideals. In all probability, all the larger capital ships and in particular the royal ships - ie the ships named after the national regalia (Kronan, Äpplet, Nyckeln, Svärdet, Scepter / Spiran) and other royal attributes - had extensive allegorical embellishments. Although the royal ship Vasa is a shining exception, today there are few concrete remains preserved of the 17th century ship decoration. The crown's decorations also differ from Vasa's, mainly with regard to the high degree of preservation and a different color scheme. The crown's sculptures were probably more gilded than the Vasa, which seem to have been painted in more naturalistic colors. The finds of internal sculpture units in their original location in the Admiral's cabin on the Crown's upper deck and in the officers' room on the middle deck 1983-85, were of crucial importance for the understanding of the sinking and the condition of the wreck. The sculptures were excavated in their original position, despite the fact that the iron nails that nailed them to the shoots had long since rusted away. This indicates that the ship's side has rested in a flat position since the time of the sinking. This in turn means that the underlying, exterior decoration is probably pressed into the oxygen-free glacial clay below the hull side. The good opportunities to reconstruct the ship's original decoration against the ship's side, constitute an archaeological motive for a future salvage of the preserved port side. In all probability, an art historical treasure lurks in the depths of the Baltic Sea.

Already a decade after the sinking of the Crown, no less than 60 of the ship's 110-114 bronze cannons were salvaged. The work was carried out with the help of a diving watch. The work took place on the initiative of the fleet's commander, Admiral Hans Wachtmeister, who himself took part in the battle in which the Crown perished. Since its discovery in 1980, 44 cannons have been salvaged. 11 have been found outside the wreck site, the others within the hull area. 40% of the salvaged cannons are so-called trophies, ie booty taken from the enemy, other Swedish. The oldest cannon found so far is cast in 1514, the youngest in 1661. The lightest piece weighs about 300 kg, the heaviest almost 5 tons. In the picture, a 30-pound bronze cannon is salvaged in collaboration with the Coast Guard. The cannon turned out to have been cast in Vienna in 1627 and is probably a booty from the Thirty Years' War (1618-48).

The size of the Crown's cannons varies between 3 and 36 pounds. The number of pounds is related to the weight of the bullet in bowl pounds, which at this time amounted to about 420 grams. For stability reasons, the lightest cannons were placed at the top of the ship, while the extremely heavy cannons stood amidships on the bottom of the three continuous battery decks. You could shoot just over 2 km with the biggest pieces. The rate of fire should not have been higher than 6-8 shots / hour, due to the strong heat development in the bronze material. To lower the temperature in the goods, the cannons were filled with water and moistened sheepskin was placed on the back. It took several men to handle the larger cannons. It must have been a very inhospitable environment on the cannon tires due to the noise and the heavy smoke that the black powder of that time developed.

Of the Crown, just under 2/3 of the port side of the ship remains from the aft stern. The continuous hull section is about 40 x 20 meters. The port side is flat against the bottom, in the same position as the ship capsized. Thousands upon thousands of objects rest against the inside of the hull. About 35 meters WSW around the central wreck site is a 22 x 8 meter large broken part of the ship's starboard side. The crown can be divided into seven decks. At the top of the stern is the cab deck (approx. 10 meters long), then follows down the ramp deck (approx. 20 meters long), upper, middle and lower decks, cable decks and at the bottom the cavity, where the excavations of recent years have been located. At the same level as the ramp deck, but in the front part of the ship was the back deck.

The crown rests on a smooth sandy bottom. When the wreck was found, large parts of the wounded wreck were sent over. About twenty cannons were found, however, superficially lying on the sand inside and outside the wreck. Mainly three factors are the reason why the wreck was broken down. The explosion that preceded the sinking, sand and water erosion as well as human damage such as industrial fishing and mine sweeping. The light bottom and the lack of both vegetation and pollution at sea, contribute to the visibility of the wreck site being extremely good. Over 25 meters at best! The good visibility conditions facilitate the documentation work on the bottom. Both video and still cameras can be used. In the western part of the wreck site, the sparse remains of the starboard side protrude 1-2 meters above the bottom. The starboard side was torn apart by the upward pressure wave in connection with the explosion. In the south, the ship has dealt with the consequence that the front party is missing. To the north, the massive aft section rises about 4 meters above the bottom. The solid stern is, like the rest of the hull, made of solid oak.

In the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea, the wood-destroying shipworm Teredo Navalis cannot exist. Therefore, the conditions are extremely good for the preservation of wood and other organic material. The bottom sediment at the wreck site consists of a thick moraine and glacial clay under a superficial layer of sand. The fine, oxygen-free clay preserves both organic and inorganic material embedded in it.