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Denier Bracteate - Adelheid III of Sachsen
| Issuer | Abbey of Quedlinburg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1161-1184 |
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| Technique | Hammered (bracteate) |
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| Obverse description | Abbess seated facing, enthroned above a two-towered fortified gatehouse rendered in architectural elevation. The figure holds a lily sceptre in the right hand and a book (Bible) in the left, emblematic of ecclesiastical authority. The design is executed in the characteristic thin, single-sided bracteate technique with delicate relief typical of Lower Saxon ecclesiastical coinage of the mid-to-late twelfth century. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Adelheid III ruled Quedlinburg as abbess for over two decades, during which the abbey retained the right to strike its own coinage — a privilege granted to imperial abbeys under the Ottonian system and jealously maintained through the Salian and early Hohenstaufen periods. Bracteates of this type were produced by hammering thin silver blanks against a single engraved die, leaving a mirror impression on the reverse — a technique that dominated northern German ecclesiastical minting from the mid-twelfth century onward.
Quedlinburg's minting authority traced directly to Henry I, who founded the abbey in 936 in memory of his father.