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Denier Bracteate - Ottokar I
| Issuer | Kingdom of Bohemia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1210-1230 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Uniface bracteate struck on a thin, broad flan of hammered silver. The central field depicts a frontal enthroned figure, identifiable as the royal ruler, shown in a schematic Romanesque style characteristic of early 13th-century Bohemian coinage. The figure appears to hold regalia — a sceptre or lily-headed staff in the right hand and a globus cruciger or similar object in the left — with the arms extended laterally in a hieratic, symmetrical posture. The design is contained within a raised circular border, and the flan exhibits the characteristic convex curvature and irregular edge of a hand-struck bracteate planchet. No legend or inscription is present. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Ottokar I secured the hereditary kingship of Bohemia through the Golden Bull of Sicily in 1212, wrested from a politically weakened Frederick II in exchange for Hohenstaufen support. The bracteate coinage issued across his reign reflects that consolidation — thin single-sided strikes were the dominant Bohemian minting convention of the period, produced by hammering a single die against a cushioned backing rather than between two hardened dies.
Cach 684 is among the more localized attributions in the series, with die linkage studies suggesting Prague as the probable mint. Bracteates from this reign are notoriously fragile; even slight handling causes the characteristically paper-thin flans to crack along the edges.