1/4 Penning

Produced during the reign of Sverre Sigurdsson, whose seizure of the Norwegian throne came through civil war against the Baglers — the clerical-backed faction opposing him — rather than legitimate succession. Sverre's mints operated under constant political disruption, and the coin's fractional denomination reflects a monetary system still built around small silver weight units inherited from Viking-age trade practice. Schive's classification places this piece among the thinnest and most fragile of medieval Norwegian issues, and losses to burial corrosion and handling mean survivorship is extremely low.