1 Pfennig 'Lilienpfennig'

Esslingen's so-called Lilienpfennig circulated during a period when the city's status as a Free Imperial City gave it the right to strike its own coinage — a privilege jealously guarded against encroachment by the Württemberg counts throughout the late fourteenth century. These tiny bracteate-style pfennigs were produced at fractions of a gram of silver, making accurate striking a genuine technical challenge at the Esslingen mint. Cahn's attribution remains the standard reference, though the type appears in several minor die variants that collectors continue to sort.