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Denier Bracteate - Henry I
| Issuer | Hessen, Landgraviate of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1263-1308 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Facing bust of the landgrave beneath a rounded arch surmounted by three towers, with two additional flanking towers rising to either side of the arch in the field. Four pellets are distributed symmetrically in the outer field. The design is executed in the thin, single-sided bracteate tradition, with the figural elements rendered in low relief characteristic of medieval German hammered coinage of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Henry I of Hessen ruled during a period when bracteate coinage was already in decline across much of the German-speaking world, yet Hessen persisted with the form well past its regional peak. These thin, single-sided strikes were notoriously fragile in circulation, and surviving examples with full, uncrushed fields are genuinely scarce — the flan preparation process for sub-half-gram pieces left almost no tolerance for handling.
The forty-five year span attributed to this type reflects the difficulty medieval numismatists face in die-dating Hessian bracteates, where documentary evidence is sparse and stylistic drift was slow.