Denier Bracteate - Diethelm of Krenkingen

Diethelm of Krenkingen served as Bishop of Constance from 1189 until his death in 1206, presiding over one of the wealthiest and most territorially extensive dioceses in the Holy Roman Empire. The Bishopric's minting rights in this period were fiercely contested — Constance sat at a commercial crossroads between Swabia and the Swiss plateau, and episcopal coin production was as much a political instrument as an economic one. Bracteate production in the Upper Rhine region peaked precisely during Diethelm's tenure, thin-flan single-sided striking having become the dominant local form by the late 12th century.