Denier Bracteate

Dömitz, a small fortified town on the Elbe, held minting rights during the second half of the thirteenth century under conditions typical of fragmented German territorial authority — dozens of minor lords and municipalities striking thin silver bracteates simultaneously, each asserting local prerogative. The bracteate format itself, a single-sided coin hammered so thin the design pressed through to the reverse as a mirror image, was a distinctly north German and Scandinavian phenomenon, largely abandoned by southern mints before this piece was struck.