Denier Bracteate - Beatrix II of Winzeburg, Frederick II of Sachsen-Sommerschenburg

Beatrix II ruled Quedlinburg as abbess from 1138, appointed under the authority of Conrad III, while Frederick II of Sachsen-Sommerschenburg served as imperial advocate — the secular protector whose military function gave him co-issuing rights over the abbey's coinage. The pairing of ecclesiastical and lay authority on a single bracteate issue was not ceremonial; the advocate's role carried genuine legal weight, including jurisdiction over the abbey's markets and mints.

Quedlinburg bracteates of this period are hammer-thin single-sided strikes, the fragility of which explains why genuinely uncreased examples are difficult to locate across any of the major reference collections.