Denier Bracteate

Bracteates of this period were struck across hundreds of small ecclesiastical and secular lordships simultaneously, each hammering their own dies with minimal oversight from any central authority — the Holy Roman Empire in name, but in minting practice an almost entirely fragmented system. The extreme thinness required a single-sided strike against a yielding surface, typically leather or lead, producing the characteristic embossed ghost impression on the reverse.

Survival rates are poor. The foil-weight fabric cracks along stress lines and rarely survives burial intact.