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Denier Bracteate - Albert I
| Issuer | Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Principality of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1252-1279 |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Single-sided bracteate struck in thin silver, displaying a stylized lion passant in high relief facing left, rendered in a bold Romanesque manner characteristic of mid-13th century Lower Saxon minting. The beast is depicted with a prominent rounded head adorned with pellet-form eyes and a mane suggested by globular bosses, its body conveying a powerful, compact form with haunches and forelimbs clearly articulated. The central device is enclosed within a plain inner ring, itself surrounded by a broad outer border composed of a continuous row of large pellets following the irregular flan edge. The field is otherwise plain, with no legend or inscription, consistent with the anonymous bracteate coinage of Albert I of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. The reverse shows the characteristic incuse mirror image inherent to bracteate production. |
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| Mintage | ND (1252-1279) |
| Additional information |
Albert I of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ruled during the prolonged fragmentation of the Welf territories, a process of dynastic partition that generated an enormous proliferation of small regional coinages across Lower Saxony in the mid-thirteenth century. Bracteates of this period were struck on flans so thin that double-sided coinage was mechanically impossible — the entire design had to read from one face, pressed into metal barely thicker than foil.
Berger 708 and Denicke 174 place this piece within a well-documented but physically fragile series; genuine survivors without cracks or splits along the edges are considerably scarcer than catalog frequency suggests.