Currencies/Danish denning
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Introduction
The Danish denning (or denninge, plural denninger) was an early Danish medieval coin that circulated from the 11th to the 14th century. It represented the smallest denomination in Denmark’s early silver-based currency system and was equivalent to a fraction of the penning or øre. The term “denning” derives from the same root as the Latin denarius, from which many European coin names originated.
History
The denning appeared in Denmark during the Viking Age and early medieval period, when Scandinavian coinage began adopting continental European standards influenced by German and Anglo-Saxon mints. Danish kings such as Cnut the Great (1016–1035) and Harald Bluetooth (c. 958–987) began issuing silver coins modelled after the denarius, which eventually evolved into local forms called penninge and denninge.
By the 12th century, the denning had become a small silver denomination used primarily for local trade and small payments. It was closely tied to the broader system: 1 mark = 16 øre = 192 penning = 384 denning, though exact values varied by region and era.
As Danish monetary reforms continued into the 14th and 15th centuries, the denning gradually disappeared from circulation, replaced by more standardized coinage such as the skilling and rigsdaler.
Coins
Early denning coins were small silver pieces, typically less than 15 mm in diameter and weighing under 1 gram. They were crudely struck by hand with a hammer, using irregular flans, and often bore simplified royal monograms, crosses, or runic inscriptions.
Minting took place in various Danish towns, including Lund, Roskilde, Ribe, and Viborg, reflecting regional trade importance. The coins were issued in hammered silver and occasionally in debased alloys when silver supplies ran low.
Over time, the coinage lost weight and purity, mirroring general European medieval monetary trends.
Currency
In the traditional Danish system: 1 mark = 16 øre = 192 penning = 384 denning.
The denning thus served as one of the smallest accounting and trade units in the kingdom’s monetary hierarchy. It remained primarily a local measure of value rather than a major trade coin.
Legacy
The Danish denning represents one of the earliest native coin denominations in Danish history. Its existence illustrates Denmark’s integration into the medieval European monetary network and the gradual development of the Danish krone through centuries of reform.
Although the denning disappeared by the late Middle Ages, its linguistic and economic legacy continued in terms such as penninge (pennies) and øre, which survive in modern Danish currency terminology.