The "Gimsøydaler" takes its nickname from Gimsøy monastery in Lofoten, one of the ecclesiastical properties seized by the Danish Crown during the Lutheran Reformation's forcible dissolution of Norwegian monasteries. Christian III, who imposed Lutheranism on Norway by royal decree in 1537, financed much of his early coinage reform through the liquidation of church silver — it is widely held among Scandinavian numismatists that bullion from confiscated monastic plate fed directly into the minting of heavy silver issues like this one.
Only a handful of confirmed specimens are documented. Skaare's cataloguing remains the authoritative reference, and examples surface rarely at auction.
The "Gimsøydaler" takes its nickname from Gimsøy monastery in Lofoten, one of the ecclesiastical properties seized by the Danish Crown during the Lutheran Reformation's forcible dissolution of Norwegian monasteries. Christian III, who imposed Lutheranism on Norway by royal decree in 1537, financed much of his early coinage reform through the liquidation of church silver — it is widely held among Scandinavian numismatists that bullion from confiscated monastic plate fed directly into the minting of heavy silver issues like this one.
Only a handful of confirmed specimens are documented. Skaare's cataloguing remains the authoritative reference, and examples surface rarely at auction.