In the 18th century, the kings of Denmark/Norway were absolute monarchs, ordained by God and ruling with total power. Of course, the king had numerous advisors and councilmen, but he could and would often oversee even the smallest of details – especially when it came to coins – and he would interfere if he did not approve of the design or craftsmanship.
In 1730 Frederik IV died and was succeeded by his son, Christian VI. Christian was very pious, which may have been a reaction to the extravagant lifestyle of his father. The Danish coinage of Christian VI is rather limited, as he ruled for just16 years; there are only about nine main types. One of them with a subtle variation – the 1731 24 Skilling.
The coinage of the new king was overseen by mintmaster Christian Wineke the Younger, who put his initials as well as his mintmark, a heart, on the coin. However, his placing of the mintmark on the lower arm of the cross was not well received by the pious king, who ordered the heart removed. Only the royal arms were to cover or adorn the cross, not the mark of a mintmaster.
Quite a few examples with the heart had already been brought into circulation, and so there ended up being two distinct variations of the 1731 24 Skilling – one with and one without a heart on the cross.
The amazing L. E. Bruun Collection is, with its more than 20,000 coins, medals and banknotes, collected from 1859 to 1923, a veritable treasure trove of beautiful coins, unique pieces and sublime gold emissions. But, it is also full of everyday coins with quaint little stories to them – like the one above. You can find the 1731 24 Skilling with the heart in the upcoming L. E. Bruun CCO (Collectors Choice Online) sale, scheduled for February 2025.
