4 Mark - Christian V

Christian V's Norwegian coinage of the 1680s was produced under a dual-mint arrangement — Christiania and Kongsberg both striking silver — but the Kongsberg facility, fueled by the great silver mines of Numedal, dominated heavy specie production. The mines at Kongsberg had been operating since 1623 and by this decade were near peak output, making large silver pieces like this 4 Mark politically as much as economically motivated: a demonstration that Norwegian mineral wealth could sustain a credible currency without reliance on imported metal.

The 1688 date falls within a period of monetary reform under Christian V, whose 1683 Norwegian Law had reorganized much of civil administration in the kingdom.