Catalog
1/2 Joachimstaler - Christian III
| Issuer | Denmark |
|---|---|
| Year | 1537 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Crowned quartered royal shield of arms divided into five fields, flanked by the date with the last two digits appearing at either side of the shield: top left, the arms of Denmark (three lions passant guardant with hearts); top right, the arms of Norway (lion rampant holding a halberd); center, the arms of the House of Oldenburg; bottom left, the arms of Gotland (lion above hearts); bottom right, the arms of Lauenburg (eagle or bird facing left). The crown surmounting the shield breaks the inner beaded circle, and a Latin legend encircles the whole between the beaded rings at the rim. |
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| Additional information |
Christian III struck this issue in 1537 — the same year he formally established Lutheranism as Denmark's state religion and imprisoned the Catholic bishops who had backed his rivals during the Count's Feud. The Joachimstaler format, borrowed from the Bohemian coins being struck at Joachimsthal since 1519, had spread rapidly across northern Europe as larger silver denominations became essential for trade and taxation at a scale that smaller medieval coinage couldn't handle.
The half-thaler denomination was never as commercially dominant as the full Joachimstaler but saw genuine circulation in the Baltic trade routes Denmark controlled.