1 Pfennig - Bernhard IV of Lippe

Bernhard IV ruled the County of Lippe from 1229 until his death in 1265, but his appearance as issuing authority on Paderborn coinage reflects the complex overlapping jurisdictions of Westphalian ecclesiastical and secular powers during the mid-thirteenth century — the Bishop of Paderborn held minting rights, yet regional nobility frequently appeared in coin legends as co-guarantors of a currency's acceptance. The bracteate tradition dominant in northern Germany at this period meant dies were often shared or imitated across neighboring lordships, making precise attribution of individual pieces genuinely contested among specialists.