1/2 Schilling - Frederick IV the Elder

Frederick IV ruled the Franconian Hohenzollern territories during a period when the dynasty was consolidating its grip on both Ansbach and Kulmbach following the partition settlements of the late fifteenth century. Small silver fractions like this were essential to everyday commerce in the Franconian towns, where larger denominations rarely changed hands in markets. The Hohenzollern mints at this period were notoriously inconsistent in output, and dies were often reused well past their useful life — accounting for the weakness and irregularity commonly observed across surviving examples of MB#9.