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1 Pfennig 'Elefantenpfennig'
| Issuer | Breisgau, Landgraviate of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1300-1350 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.33 g |
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| Obverse description | An elephant rendered in profile striding to the left, its body depicted in a robust, stylised medieval manner with three distinctive humps or protuberances along its back. The figure is set within a raised circular border in the field, with a beaded inner strip framing the design. The reverse side of this bracteate-style issue is blank, the design being visible in incuse on that face. The overall treatment is characteristic of the bold, low-relief die-work associated with Upper Rhenish bracteate coinage of the early fourteenth century. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The "Elefantenpfennig" takes its name from the creature on the coin's reverse, which medieval Breisgau die-cutters rendered from secondhand description rather than observation — the result bears only passing resemblance to an actual elephant. This was not uncommon: the animal appears on coins and seals across 13th and 14th century German territories largely through the filter of crusader-era travel accounts and bestiaries. The Landgraviate of Breisgau, wedged between the Rhine and the Black Forest, sat on trade routes that made such exotic imagery fashionable without making the animals themselves any more familiar to local moneyers.