Denier Bracteate - Adelhog of Dorstadt

Adelhog served as Bishop of Hildesheim from 1171 to 1190, a tenure marked by active engagement in the political turbulence between Henry the Lion and Frederick Barbarossa — the bishop ultimately siding with imperial interests as Henry's power collapsed after 1180. Bracteates of this diocese are among the thinner and more technically demanding products of the Lower Saxon minting tradition, struck on a single face from foil-thin planchets that required considerable die skill to render legible without tearing the flan.