Denier Bracteate - Frederick I Altenburg

Frederick I — Barbarossa — held the imperial title for nearly four decades, but bracteate production under his name varied dramatically by mint location, and the Altenburg issues occupy a distinct regional tradition tied to the Pleißenland, an imperial territory administered directly by the crown rather than through a vassal prince. That administrative quirk meant Altenburg's mint answered to the emperor personally, giving these thin, single-sided strikes an unusually direct imperial authorization rare among contemporaneous German bracteates.