2 Skilling Dansk - Frederik III Shield type IV

Frederik III issued these small billon skillings against the backdrop of the most catastrophic war in Danish history — the Second Northern War, during which Sweden occupied the Jutland peninsula and Danish forces were pushed to the brink of collapse before the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658 stripped Denmark of its remaining Scandinavian territories. State finances were in ruins. The Crown's ability to maintain even a billon coinage at consistent fineness was under persistent pressure throughout this period.

The Shield type IV designation distinguishes this from earlier variants within the same reign — a series of incremental design adjustments common to emergency-period minting when dies were cut and recut under duress.