Denier Bracteate - Ottokar II

Ottokar II struck these thin, single-sided bracteates during the opening years of his reign, before his territorial ambitions drew Bohemia into the prolonged conflict with Rudolf of Habsburg that would ultimately end at the Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278. The bracteate format, already declining elsewhere in Europe by this period, persisted in Bohemian minting practice well into the second half of the thirteenth century. Cach 776 is among the more precisely documented types from this short window, attributed to the period before Ottokar consolidated the Austrian duchies and expanded his monetary administration accordingly.