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Denier Bracteate - Christian of Buch
| Issuer | Archbishopric of Mainz |
|---|---|
| Year | 1167-1183 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Archbishop enthroned facing, depicted in full pontifical vestments, holding a crozier in his left hand and raising his right hand in the gesture of benediction. The effigy is rendered in the flat, single-sided bracteate technique characteristic of 12th-century German ecclesiastical coinage, with the figure occupying the full field of the flan. The throne is indicated by stylized architectural or decorative elements flanking the seated figure. The design is attributed to Archbishop Christian I of Buch during his tenure over the See of Mainz. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Christian of Buch served as Archbishop of Mainz from 1165 while simultaneously functioning as Frederick Barbarossa's imperial chancellor and one of his most active military commanders in Italy — an unusual dual role that kept him absent from his diocese for extended stretches. The thin, single-sided bracteate format dominated German ecclesiastical coinage during this period precisely because the flans were cheaper and faster to produce, useful for an issuing authority whose administration was perpetually stretched by imperial commitments.
Berger 2383 is among the more documented of Christian's bracteate types, though attribution within his issues can be complicated by the absence of consistent mint signatures across the Mainz series.