Contemporary Counterfeit - 8 Skilling - Frederik IV

Contemporary counterfeits of Danish-Norwegian copper skilling are well documented from the early eighteenth century, when the chronic underproduction of small-denomination coinage left a vacuum that unofficial struck and cast pieces readily filled. Frederik IV's monetary reforms of the 1720s attempted to stabilize a currency system still recovering from the costs of the Great Northern War, but demand for low-value circulating pieces consistently outpaced the Royal Mint's output. Copper was the logical target — low intrinsic value meant the profit margin on a convincing fake was real, and detection by ordinary users was unlikely.

The copper composition here, rather than a debased silver or wash, suggests a maker working honestly to the original metal rather than shaving margins further.