2 Mark Klipping - Christian III

Struck in the immediate aftermath of the Count's War — the civil conflict that ended in 1536 with Christian III's decisive victory and the simultaneous imposition of Lutheranism on Denmark — this klipping belongs to one of the most turbulent monetary moments in Scandinavian history. The irregular cut-square form was a wartime expedient, struck fast and rough to pay troops and creditors when there was no time for properly shaped flans.

The billon composition reflects a treasury under severe strain. Christian's war debts to Lübeck alone took decades to clear.