Fyrk
{{no footnotes|date=September 2015}}
File:Arboga, fyrk, 1627 - Skoklosters slott - 109229.tif (1627)|138x138px]]
A fyrk was a monetary unit used in Sweden in the 15th to 17th century, with a value of between 1/6 and 1/2 öre. The word is derived from Middle Low German vereken (vierichen) and ultimately from ver or vier, a monetary unit (from vier, "four"). After the monetary unit had been abolished, the word remained in use in the general sense of "small money", "pennies", "an insignificant sum"; and as a slang word for "money" in Finland Swedish, from where it is borrowed in Finnish slang (as {{lang|fi|fyrkka}}).
With the Swedish municipal reforms of 1862, the unit fyrk was re-used as a unit for counting voting rights in the municipal election. Voting rights were graded according to income and assets, counted in fyrks and recorded in the {{lang|sv|fyrktalslängd}}, the "fyrk counting list" for each municipality. It was in use from 1863 to 1909. The {{lang|sv|vägfyrk}} or "road fyrk", a unit for road tax, remained in use until 1937.
Up until 17th century fyrks were minted from silver; later the copper was used as the value of the coin suffered continuous inflation.
References
{{Portal|Money|Numismatics|Sweden}}
- [http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/show.phtml?filenr=1/76/19234.html "Fyrk"] in Svenska Akademiens Ordbok
- [https://runeberg.org/nfbi/0085.html "Fyrk"] in Nordisk familjebok, vol 9 (1908)
- Nationalencyklopedin, s.v. "Fyrk"
Category:Economic history of Scandinavia
Category:Modern obsolete currencies
{{money-unit-stub}}