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Denier - Anonymous
| Issuer | Bishopric of Osnabrück |
|---|---|
| Year | 1075-1125 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 1.49 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse displays a complex arrangement of letters and symbols in three horizontal lines across the field, spelling out the city name in a highly stylized, archaic Romanesque hand characteristic of early medieval German ecclesiastical coinage. A banded or lined architectural motif, possibly representing a church façade or gate, appears at the top of the design above the inscription, with scattered pellets and annulets filling the remaining field. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Mint | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
The anonymous deniers of Osnabrück belong to a period when the bishop held coinage rights granted by the Salian emperors, rights that became deeply contested during the Investiture Controversy. The diocese was caught directly in that conflict — Bishop Benno II of Osnabrück, who died in 1088, was one of the few German prelates who managed to navigate loyalty to Henry IV without permanently alienating the papal party, a political tightrope that kept the see functional while neighboring ecclesiastical mints collapsed into factional paralysis.
The anonymous attribution reflects a broader minting practice in the lower Saxon region where episcopal identity was subordinated to institutional authority of the see itself rather than the sitting bishop.