Denier Bracteate - Elisabeth of Bayern

Elisabeth of Bavaria served as regent of Thuringia following the death of her husband Heinrich Raspe IV in 1247, governing during a contested interregnum that saw rival claimants press hard against Thuringian territory. Her coinage authority was itself a political statement during this instability. The bracteate format — a single-sided uniface struck on a thin flan — was the dominant currency technology of central German territories throughout the thirteenth century, and Thuringia was among its most prolific producers.

The four-year window of this issue corresponds to her active regency before Thuringia passed to the Wettin dynasty.