Denier Bracteate - Mieszko III the Old Gniezno or Kalisz mint

Mieszko III ruled twice — driven from the throne in 1177 by a coalition of barons and the Church, he clawed his way back through shifting alliances before dying in office in 1202. This bracteate falls somewhere within that turbulent span, struck at either Gniezno or Kalisz, both functioning as minting centers for Greater Poland during his reign. Attribution to one city over the other remains unresolved without die-linkage evidence.

Bracteates of this type were struck on exceptionally thin flans, making them structurally fragile in circulation. Kop#113 places this squarely within a series where surviving specimens with intact edges are genuinely uncommon.