The Teutonic Order's Prussian bracteates of this period circulated within a tightly controlled internal economy — the Order functioned less as a feudal state and less as a church than as a militarized merchant bureaucracy, and its coinage policy reflected that. These thin billon pieces were produced during the tenure of Winrich von Kniprode as Grand Master, whose administration is generally credited with the Order's commercial and territorial peak in the Baltic.
At 0.10 g, wear and fragility mean few survive without creasing or peripheral loss.
The Teutonic Order's Prussian bracteates of this period circulated within a tightly controlled internal economy — the Order functioned less as a feudal state and less as a church than as a militarized merchant bureaucracy, and its coinage policy reflected that. These thin billon pieces were produced during the tenure of Winrich von Kniprode as Grand Master, whose administration is generally credited with the Order's commercial and territorial peak in the Baltic.
At 0.10 g, wear and fragility mean few survive without creasing or peripheral loss.