Denier Bracteate Penning 'Hulpenning' - Erik of Pommern Åbo

Erik of Pommern — king simultaneously of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under the Kalmar Union — issued these thin, uniface bracteates through regional minting authorities including Åbo (modern Turku, Finland), which functioned as the administrative center of Swedish Finland. The *hulpenning*, literally "help penny," was the lowest denomination in circulation, struck at weights so marginal that surviving examples are almost invariably bent, creased, or partially struck. Erik's reign ended badly: deposed in 1439 after years of war with the Holstein-Schauenburg counts and mounting resentment over his toll policies at Øresund.