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Denier Bracteate - Henry the Lion
| Issuer | Brunswick-Luneburg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1142-1195 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Bracteate |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A heraldic lion passant to the left, rendered in bold relief in the Romanesque style, with a stylised mane depicted through layered, scalloped ridges and an upward-curling tail. The beast is shown with forepaws raised and hindquarters lowered, set within a raised inner circle border. The outer rim features a beaded or granulated border typical of 12th-century bracteate coinage. No legend or inscription is present, the design occupying the entire flan. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Henry the Lion ruled Brunswick and Saxony at a scale that made him briefly more powerful than most European kings, which is precisely why Frederick Barbarossa had him exiled in 1180. The bracteate issues of his tenure were struck across multiple mints in Saxony and Westphalia, and the thin single-sided fabric was not a regional quirk but a deliberate response to silver shortages — less metal per coin allowed the mint to stretch supplies without formally debasing the coinage.
Berger 365 and Denicke 38 place this piece within a well-documented but still complex attribution sequence. Die studies have shown considerable variation within the type.