Denier - Boleslaus I the Cruel

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Obverse script	Latin
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Reverse description	A bold Latin cross divides the central field into four quarters, each quarter adorned with three pellets arranged in a triangular cluster, totalling twelve pellets across the design. The cross is enclosed within a beaded inner circle, itself surrounded by a peripheral legend reading PRAGA CIVITA, identifying Prague as the mint city. The outer border is formed by an irregular toothed or beaded rim typical of hammered medieval coinage. The overall composition is characteristic of early Premyslid deniers, reflecting the influence of Ottonian and Carolingian monetary traditions.
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Additional information	Boleslaus I earned his epithet by murdering his brother Wenceslas in 935 — the same Wenceslas later canonized and celebrated in the Christmas carol — and then ruled for nearly four decades in open defiance of Ottonian suzerainty before eventually submitting to Otto I around 950. These deniers represent the earliest phase of Bohemian coinage, issued by a duke who understood that striking silver in his own name was an assertion of political autonomy as much as an economic convenience. Cach 11 is among the foundational references for this series.