Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Denier Bracteate - Valdemar I Birgersson
| Issuer | Sweden |
|---|---|
| Year | 1250-1275 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Crowned lion's head facing left in high relief, rendered in a bold Romanesque style characteristic of mid-13th century Swedish bracteate coinage. The heraldic effigy occupies the central field, surmounted by a simple crown, with the mane stylized as radiating pellets and foliate projections arranged around the head. The design is contained within a raised inner circle, itself enclosed by a broad outer rim with an irregular, lobed edge typical of the hammered bracteate technique. No legend is present; the design relies entirely on the heraldic imagery as a symbol of royal authority. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | As a bracteate, this coin is struck from a single die on a thin flan, resulting in a mirror-image incuse impression of the obverse design on the reverse. The reverse therefore shows the lion's head and crown in negative relief, with the surrounding pellet border and raised rim visible as corresponding depressions. No independent design or legend appears on the reverse. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Valdemar I Birgersson ruled Sweden under the long shadow of his father Birger Jarl, who effectively controlled the realm until his death in 1266 — leaving Valdemar to govern independently for less than a decade before his own brother Magnus overthrew him in 1275. These bracteates were struck during a transitional moment in Swedish monetary history, when the kingdom was beginning to consolidate regional minting under stronger royal authority, though production remained geographically fragmented and stylistically inconsistent across dies.
The extreme thinness of the fabric made bracteates notoriously vulnerable to post-strike damage, which accounts for the rarity of intact survivors today.