Norway before 1814

Old Norwegian coins from the Viking kings to 1814

This category covers old Norwegian coins from the first silver pennies to the end of the union with Denmark in 1814. Many collectors start out looking for Viking coins, and Norwegian coinage does begin in the late Viking Age: the first Norwegian coin is a silver penny struck for Olav Tryggvason between 995 and 1000. The oldest coins here belong to the generations that followed, such as a penny of Olav Kyrre (1066–1093).

Use the menu to choose a king or period. Every coin is examined, photographed and described with catalogue references where available.

Medieval coins: pennies, bracteates and hvids

Harald Hardrada (1046–1066) built a national coinage, but he also cut the silver content of the penny to about a third. From the 12th century came bracteates: thin coins struck on one side only, so the design shows through in reverse on the back. The civil-war king Sverre Sigurdsson (1177–1202) is the best-known issuer.

Later medieval coins include pennies of Eirik Magnusson and Håkon VI, hvids of King Hans and Archbishop Gaute Ivarsson, and the first skillings, struck in Bergen and by the archbishops in Nidaros until the Reformation in 1537. They are gathered under Gaute Ivarsson m. fl.

Denmark-Norway: mark, skilling and speciedaler

From 1537 Norway shared a king and a currency with Denmark. After silver was found at Kongsberg in 1623, Christian IV opened a mint in Christiania in 1628, and in 1686 the Royal Mint was established at Kongsberg, close to the mines. The Christiania mint closed in 1695, and from then on Kongsberg struck Norway’s coins. From 1625 the system was 16 skilling to the mark and six marks, or 96 skilling, to the rigsdaler.

The coins follow the kings one by one: the 1 and 2 mark of Christian IV, the large 4 mark pieces of Christian V and Frederik IV, the 24 skilling of the mid-18th century, a 2/3 speciedaler of 1796, and the 2 skilling of Frederik VI. The period ends with the riksbanktegn of 1813, copper coins in the short-lived rigsbankdaler currency that followed the state bankruptcy.

What do collectors look for in old Norwegian coins?

• A theme: many collectors build a set by king or by denomination, which makes gaps easy to see.
• Strike and flan: medieval and 17th-century coins were struck by hand or with simple machinery. Off-centre strikes, weak areas and irregular flans are normal and are not damage.
• Wear and surface: legends and arms wear quickly. Holes, scratches and old cleaning lower the value more than an even, natural patina.
• Provenance: several medieval coins here come from named collections and auctions, which documents their history.
• Varieties: die varieties and spelling errors are a field of their own, such as the SKILLIING error on the 1771 skilling.

For background, read Viking coins: from hacksilver to Olav Kyrre, bracteates explained and skilling and speciedaler explained. Coins struck after 1814 are in Norway 1814–1874.