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Denier Bracteate - Frederick II
| Issuer | Brandenburg, Margraviate of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1470-1490 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Single-sided bracteate Pfennig struck in thin silver sheet, displaying a heraldic eagle's head in right profile at center, rendered in low relief with stylized feathering fanning outward from the crown of the head. The motif is set within a recessed inner field, surrounded by a raised beaded or toothed border following the irregular round flan. The design is characteristic of late medieval Brandenburg bracteate coinage, with bold, schematic treatment of the eagle device associated with the Hohenzollern margraves. The coin's surface shows typical patination and striking irregularities consistent with hand-hammered bracteate production. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | As a bracteate, the reverse presents the incuse mirror image of the obverse design — the eagle's head appearing in negative relief as an impression of the obverse strike. The surface is characteristically concave and unfinished, displaying hammer marks and flan irregularities typical of bracteate manufacture. No legend or additional decorative elements are present on the reverse. |
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| Additional information |
Frederick II of Brandenburg — "Iron Tooth" — abdicated in 1470 in favor of his brother Albert Achilles, ending a reign marked by bitter conflict with Berlin and Cölln, whose civic privileges he forcibly curtailed in 1448 in what local chroniclers called the "Berlin Indulgence." These thin bracteate deniers, struck from a single die through a sheet of silver, were already an archaic production method by the 1470s, persisting in Brandenburg well after most German mints had abandoned the technique. The attribution window spanning two decades reflects genuine die-dating difficulty with this series.