Denier Bracteate - Beatrice I Gelnhausen

Beatrice I was Frederick Barbarossa's first empress, and Gelnhausen was among the imperial palaces he built — the Kaiserpfalz there was under construction precisely during this coin's minting window. Bracteates of this type were struck with her name and authority during a period when she actively administered imperial territories, not merely as a consort title but with documented administrative function. She died in 1184, making this issue confined to roughly a decade of production.