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1 Heller 'Rautenheller, Hohlheller' - Frederick III, Johann and Georg
| Issuer | Saxony (Ernestinian Line), Electorate of |
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| Year | 1507-1525 |
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| Currency | Thaler (1485-1573) |
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| Obverse description | Central field occupied by the divided Saxon coat of arms, displaying the characteristic barry of ten or and sable with a crancelin (diagonal bend) — the so-called Rautenkranz — rendered in low relief in the hammered bracteate style. The shield is set within a plain inner circle, with no legend or inscription present. The flan edges are irregular, consistent with hand-cut hammered production typical of early sixteenth-century Saxon Heller coinage. |
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| Mintage | ND (1507-1525) |
| Additional information |
The Rautenheller emerged from the joint rule arrangement forced on the Ernestinian Wettins by inheritance custom — Frederick III (the Wise), his brother Johann, and nephew Georg governed collectively, a circumstance that produced coinage attributable to all three simultaneously. Frederick the Wise is best remembered as the Elector who refused to hand Luther over to Rome after the Diet of Worms, but his monetary administration was equally assertive, anchoring Saxon small coinage against persistent debasement pressure from neighboring mints during the early Reformation decades.
The hollow-bracteate construction of the Hohlheller made it unusually fragile in circulation. Uncrushed survivors are correspondingly scarce.