Denier Bracteate - Anonymous

The Teutonic Order began striking its own coinage in Prussia following the conquest of the region from the pagan Prussians in the mid-13th century, asserting financial independence from both Polish and German secular authorities. These anonymous deniers — unattributed to any specific Grand Master — were produced in the order's Prussian mints, most likely Thorn or Elbing, to facilitate commerce in the newly colonized eastern territories. The bractate form, a single-sided hammered type produced from one die striking through a thin flan, was the dominant small denomination technology in northern Europe at the time.