Rupert III ruled the Upper Palatinate while simultaneously pressing his claim to the imperial throne, which he secured in 1400 when the Rhenish electors deposed Wenceslaus IV. These small silver pfennigs were struck throughout that politically turbulent transition, financing both the administration of the Palatinate and the considerable expense of maintaining an imperial court at Heidelberg. The Götz and Kull references place this type firmly within a documented sequence, though die combinations across the twelve-year span vary enough that individual specimens frequently resist precise dating within the issue period.
Rupert III ruled the Upper Palatinate while simultaneously pressing his claim to the imperial throne, which he secured in 1400 when the Rhenish electors deposed Wenceslaus IV. These small silver pfennigs were struck throughout that politically turbulent transition, financing both the administration of the Palatinate and the considerable expense of maintaining an imperial court at Heidelberg. The Götz and Kull references place this type firmly within a documented sequence, though die combinations across the twelve-year span vary enough that individual specimens frequently resist precise dating within the issue period.