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Denier Bracteate - Otto IV
| Issuer | Brunswick-Luneburg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1195-1227 |
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| Value | 1 Denier |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Crowned lion passant to left in high relief, the heraldic beast rendered in a stylized Romanesque manner with a scalloped or scaled body denoting the mane, the tail curled upward toward the back. A small cross patée appears to the left of the lion in the field, while an annulet is placed between the lion's back and tail. The design is struck on a thin, concave flan characteristic of bracteate coinage, with the entire composition contained within a plain inner border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Incuse mirror image of the obverse, as is standard for bracteate coinage produced from a single die struck on a thin silver flan. The reverse shows the ghost impression of the crowned lion passant, cross, and annulet in intaglio relief, with no additional design elements or inscriptions present. |
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| Additional information |
Otto IV ruled Brunswick-Lüneburg before his election as Holy Roman Emperor in 1209, and bracteates struck under his authority occupy an awkward historiographical space — regional issues produced by a man simultaneously embroiled in the most consequential imperial rivalry of the medieval period, his prolonged struggle against the Hohenstaufen Frederick II. The thin, single-sided fabric of bracteate coinage was a distinctly north German tradition by this point, practical for local exchange but technically demanding given the tendency of such wafers to crack during striking.
Otto was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III in 1210, and his political collapse after the Battle of Bouvines in 1214 effectively ended his imperial authority while he retained nominal control of Brunswick until his death in 1218.