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1 Pfennig - Rupert I
| Issuer | Upper Palatinate |
|---|---|
| Year | 1350-1390 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Facing bust of Duke Rupert I enclosed within a small beaded inner circle, depicted in a schematic medieval style with a crown or diadem visible above the head. A bold Gothic legend in Latin surrounds the effigy in the outer field, reading *DVXo RVPERT, with decorative stops separating the words. The overall composition is characteristic of 14th-century German hammered bracteate-style pfennigs, with the design struck in high relief against an irregular flan. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A heraldic lion passant to the left, rendered in the bold, stylized manner typical of 14th-century German coinage, occupying the central field within a beaded or linear inner circle. The lion, representing the Wittelsbach arms of the Palatinate, is shown with raised forepaw and curling tail, its mane and body details struck with expressive if somewhat crude workmanship. The design fills the flan with no legend, the field otherwise plain. The strike, as typical of hammered pfennigs of this period, results in slight irregularities across the surface. |
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| Additional information |
Rupert I ruled the Upper Palatinate as Count Palatine from 1353 until his death in 1390, and was later elected King of Germany in 1400 — though these tiny silver pfennigs predate that elevation entirely. The Upper Palatinate's mint output in this period was driven by the need to service local trade along the Naab and Vils river corridors, where imperial and territorial coinage competed constantly for acceptance.
The Götz reference places this among a tightly documented series, but surviving examples remain scarce given the fragility of bracteate-adjacent silver struck at this weight.