The Swedish Stockholm bank note was used as currency in Sweden from the 1600's to the 1700's. In 1661, Swedish coins were huge. It would have been impossible to carry around 100 dalers in coins. The Swedish Stockholm Bank got permission from the government to produce bank notes. This way coins could stay in the bank and people could carry pieces of paper that represented the coins instead. These types of bank notes were the first printed paper money to be used in Europe.
Source: http://www.currencymuseum.ca/eng/learning/digit.php