Catalog
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| Issuer | Anhalt, Principality of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1250-1299 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.61 g |
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| Obverse description | Single-sided bracteate struck in thin silver, featuring a heraldic bear passant within a plain inner circle. The bear, the dynastic emblem of the Ascanian rulers of Anhalt, is depicted facing left in a stylized Romanesque manner, with raised forepaw and pronounced hindquarters. The design is rendered in low relief characteristic of mid-to-late 13th-century German bracteate coinage. The field is plain and unlettered, with no legend present. The flan exhibits the typical irregular, slightly wavy edge associated with hammered bracteate production. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (1250-1299) |
| Additional information |
Bracteates of this type were produced across the Saxon-Thuringian region in enormous variety during the second half of the 13th century, when the fragmentation of imperial authority left local lords free to issue their own thin, single-sided coinage almost at will. Anhalt's output during this period is poorly documented in contemporary records, which is why attributions often rely entirely on die studies — Thormählen and Bonhoff remain the foundational references precisely because chronicle evidence is nearly absent.
At 0.61g, this piece sits at the lighter end of surviving specimens, consistent with the weight attrition seen across bracteates that actually circulated rather than entering hoards early.