Denier Bracteate - Frederick I

Weingarten Abbey in Swabia held imperial minting rights granted under the Salian dynasty, and by Frederick Barbarossa's reign those rights were well-established enough to produce locally circulating bracteate issues. This piece dates to the height of Barbarossa's conflict with Henry the Lion, whose duchy of Saxony was dissolved in 1180 — a political rupture that reshuffled property and privilege across the German south, likely reinforcing the abbey's minting autonomy as loyal ecclesiastical houses were rewarded.

Bracteates of this weight class were struck on exceptionally thin flans, making intact survivors without cracks or splits genuinely uncommon.