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1 Weißpfennig - Raban of Helmstedt
| Issuer | Archbishopric of Trier |
|---|---|
| Year | 1438 |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Central field depicts a facing frontal figure of Saint Peter, the patron saint of Trier, enthroned beneath a Gothic architectural canopy. The saint is shown in episcopal vestments, nimbed, holding his attributes, rendered in the late medieval hammered style typical of Rhenish ecclesiastical coinage. The surrounding legend runs along the coin's periphery in Gothic uncial characters. The architectural framing above the figure features trefoil and pinnacle details characteristic of 15th-century German ecclesiastical die engraving. The overall design reflects the hieratic, formal iconography standard to Trier archiepiscopal issues of this period. |
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| Reverse script | Latin (uncial) |
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| Additional information |
Raban of Helmstedt served as Archbishop of Trier from 1430 until his death in 1439, a tenure defined largely by his attempts to navigate the conciliarist crisis — specifically the conflict between Pope Eugene IV and the Council of Basel, which had declared the pope suspended in 1438, the very year this coin was struck. Trier's archbishops held both ecclesiastical and secular authority as prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire, giving their coinage a political weight beyond the purely economic.
The Weißpfennig denomination takes its name from the whitish appearance of low-grade silver billon when freshly struck.