Catalog
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| Issuer | Hessen, Landgraviate of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1308-1326 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered (bracteate) |
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| Obverse description | Bracteate type struck on a thin hammered silver flan. A frontal bust of the landgrave, likely Otto I of Hesse, is depicted at center, shown in a stylized heraldic manner with a crowned or helmeted head and outstretched arms or wings flanking the figure. The bust is enclosed within a beaded inner circle, itself surrounded by an additional beaded border. Small pellets are placed at the cardinal points outside the inner circle, enhancing the decorative framework. The letters H - V - N - V appear distributed around the field, forming an abbreviated Latin legend referencing the issuer's title or name. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Otto I of Hesse ruled during a period of sustained territorial consolidation, and his bracteate issues reflect the fragmented monetary geography of the medieval German interior, where thin-flan silver coinages circulated alongside heavier cross-border denominations. Bracteates of this type were struck on single-sided flans precisely because the process was cheaper and faster — not a stylistic choice but an economic one.
Berger 2324 is among the better-documented attributions for this reign, though die studies on Hessian bracteates remain thinner than comparable work on Thuringian or Lower Saxon issues.