Catalog
8 Skilling Klipping - Christian III
| Issuer | Kingdom of Denmark |
|---|---|
| Year | 1535 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3.32 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse lettering | C 3 5 |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents a plain, entirely blank and roughly textured silver surface, devoid of any design, inscription, or decorative element. The flan shows pronounced tool marks and surface irregularities consistent with hand-cut klippe production, where the reverse was left unworked. The irregular quadrilateral shape of the planchet is clearly visible, with slightly concave edges resulting from the cutting process. No legend, symbol, or mint mark appears on this face. |
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| Additional information |
Christian III struck this klipping during the Count's War — a brutal civil conflict that erupted after the death of Frederik I in 1533 and very nearly destroyed the Danish monarchy. The war pitted Hanseatic-backed claimants against the Protestant nobility, and emergency coin production was essential to pay troops and maintain supply lines. Klippings, crudely sheared square or polygonal flans cut straight from silver sheet rather than rolled stock, were a practical wartime shortcut — faster to produce than round struck coinage.
Christian III's victory in 1536 also marked the formal establishment of Lutheranism as Denmark's state religion, making this issue a product of one of Scandinavia's more consequential dynastic struggles.