Denier Bracteate - John

John, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruled a territory that had fractured repeatedly through inheritance disputes following the death of Henry the Lion in 1195. The bracteate coinage of this period was a regional phenomenon particular to northern and central Germany, where single-sided fabric so thin it struck through to form a mirror impression on the reverse became the dominant small-denomination silver currency for over two centuries — a format that never gained traction elsewhere in Europe.

At 0.49 g, these pieces were already at the practical lower limit of workable silver coinage, and clipping was a persistent problem that drove periodic recoinage obligations on local populations.