4 Mark Dansk - Christian V King's standing figure

Christian V had assumed the Danish throne in 1670 inheriting a monarchy recently transformed by the 1665 Lex Regia — Europe's most absolutist constitutional document, which concentrated all sovereign power in the king alone. The 4 Mark issues of his reign were struck against a backdrop of chronic financial strain, partly a consequence of the costly wars against Sweden that had bled Denmark through much of the mid-century. The .671 fine silver reflects deliberate debasement relative to earlier Danish specie coinage, a fiscal compromise the crown made repeatedly during this period.