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1/4 Witten
| Issuer | Oldesloe, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1300-1378 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A cross pattée occupying the central field, its flared arms extending toward the coin's periphery. A partial circular legend in uncial Latin characters runs along the outer border. The execution is characteristic of small hammered medieval pfennig coinage from the North German Hanseatic region, with irregular striking resulting in uneven flan edges and partial legend visibility. |
| Reverse script | Latin (uncial) |
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| Additional information |
Oldesloe's civic coinage emerged from its status as a salt-trading town on the Trave river, where the local salt works generated enough commercial traffic to justify a municipal issue independent of the Holstein counts who nominally controlled the surrounding territory. The Witten was the dominant small-silver denomination across the north German trading zone throughout the fourteenth century, and fractional pieces like this quarter unit were struck to handle the smallest retail transactions at market.
The Jesse and Lange references place this firmly within the documented Lübeck monetary sphere, where weight standards were jealously guarded by treaty among participating towns.