Bracteate Pfennig - Ulrich III Völkermarkt

Ulrich III ruled Carinthia during a period of sustained dynastic friction with the Bohemian crown, and his bracteate pfennigs issued from Völkermarkt reflect the fragmented minting authority that characterized the duchy throughout the mid-thirteenth century. Völkermarkt — Slovenian *Velikovec* — sat on the Drava trade route and functioned as one of several competing mint towns under Ulrich's direct control rather than delegated ecclesiastical authority.

The bracteate fabric itself, a single-sided wafer struck on an exceptionally thin flan, was already becoming obsolete in much of the German-speaking world by the 1260s, but persisted in Carinthia well past its currency elsewhere.