Denier Bracteate lion

Memmingen's civic coinage authority in this period was fragile — the city was still consolidating independence from the Guelphs and navigating competing claims from the Bishop of Augsburg. These thin, single-sided bracteates were the dominant small-change technology of southern German towns in the mid-thirteenth century precisely because they required half the silver of a struck denier while maintaining a usable diameter for commerce. At 0.52g, the flan is punishingly delicate; most survivors show some degree of cracking or distortion from circulation stress inherent to the bracteate format.