8 Skilling - Christian III

Christian III issued this denomination in the years immediately following Denmark's formal adoption of Lutheranism — a shift he had enforced with considerable violence during the Count's War, imprisoning the Catholic bishops in 1536 and never releasing most of them. The 8 skilling was part of a broader monetary reorganization intended to stabilize a kingdom whose finances had been wrecked by years of civil conflict and the costs of crushing the Lübeck-backed opposition.

Hede 4B distinguishes this variety within a small cluster of closely related 1544 issues that differ in die details.