Rudolf I's election in 1273 ended the Interregnum — nearly two decades during which no recognized emperor held authority and regional coinage fragmented catastrophically. His pfennigs are bracteate in the broad sense of thin-flan silver, struck by regional minting authorities whose rights Rudolf was often forced to confirm rather than revoke, a practical concession to the princes who had elected him precisely because they expected a weak king.
Bonhoff 2046 places this piece within the Habsburg attribution, though die assignment for Rudolf's pfennigs remains genuinely contested among specialists.
Rudolf I's election in 1273 ended the Interregnum — nearly two decades during which no recognized emperor held authority and regional coinage fragmented catastrophically. His pfennigs are bracteate in the broad sense of thin-flan silver, struck by regional minting authorities whose rights Rudolf was often forced to confirm rather than revoke, a practical concession to the princes who had elected him precisely because they expected a weak king.
Bonhoff 2046 places this piece within the Habsburg attribution, though die assignment for Rudolf's pfennigs remains genuinely contested among specialists.