1 Heller 'Hand heller' - Burkhard of Ellerbach

Burkhard of Ellerbach served as Bishop of Augsburg from 1373 to 1404, a tenure marked by persistent conflict with the city's increasingly assertive merchant class. The "Hand heller" designation distinguishes this episcopal issue from the imperial hellers circulating simultaneously in the region — the open hand being the arms of the Bishopric of Augsburg, giving these small silver pieces an immediate visual claim to ecclesiastical minting authority that was, by this period, increasingly contested.

Augsburg's position as a major southern German commercial hub meant hellers here saw genuine, hard circulation. Survivors in collectible condition are accordingly scarce.