Denier Bracteate - Mieszko III the Old Gniezno or Kalisz mint

Mieszko III earned his epithet "the Old" partly through sheer durability — expelled from the Kraków senior throne twice, he outlasted rivals and reclaimed power repeatedly across a reign fragmented by the brutal seniority principle established at Bolesław III's 1138 partition. These bracteates belong to that turbulent interval, struck thin enough that the image punches through to create a mirror impression on the reverse — a minting technique that dominated Polish coinage through much of the 12th century precisely because it required half the silver of a conventional two-sided penny.

Gniezno and Kalisz were the administrative heartland of his power base in Greater Poland.