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Denier Bracteate - Henry III
| Issuer | Saxony, Duchy of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1142-1180 |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Obverse description | Two adjacent facing crowned busts of equal size, their crowns nearly touching at center. A small ring or pellet appears above in the upper field between the crowns, serving as a decorative separator. Below the busts, two rosettes are symmetrically placed in the lower field. The design is rendered in low relief typical of bracteate coinage, with the entire composition contained within a plain inner circle. The facial features are rendered in a stylized Romanesque manner, with pellet eyes and simplified drapery at the shoulders. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Uniface bracteate; the reverse presents the incuse mirror image of the obverse design, as is characteristic of thin hammered bracteate coinage. The two crowned busts, the ring above, and the two rosettes below are all visible in negative relief, with no additional design elements or legends present. |
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| Additional information |
Henry the Lion ruled Saxony at the height of Hohenstaufen-Welf rivalry, and the coinage struck under his authority reflects the political fragmentation of the period — dozens of local bracteate types circulated simultaneously across the duchy, each mint operating with considerable autonomy. The extreme thinness required by bracteate production made these coins notoriously fragile, and many surviving examples show the characteristic cracking and flan splits that result from a single-die strike on such a shallow silver disc.
Henry's eventual fall from imperial favor in 1180, when Frederick Barbarossa stripped him of both Saxony and Bavaria, brought an abrupt end to this series.