1/4 Penning - Håkon Håkonsson Minority reign

Struck during the minority regency following Håkon Håkonsson's accession at age thirteen in 1217, these coins were produced under the authority of Earl Skule Bårdsson, who effectively governed Norway while the young king came of age. The legitimacy dispute between Håkon and Skule would simmer for decades before erupting into civil war in 1239, making even the earliest coinage of the reign politically charged. Skaare 161 is among the smallest denominations of an already thin Norwegian medieval series, and surviving examples are correspondingly rare.