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Denier Bracteate - Walther IV
| Issuer | County of Barby |
|---|---|
| Year | 1223-1255 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Full-length frontal figure of the Count, rendered in a stylized Romanesque manner, standing erect with a striated or mail-clad body. In his left hand he holds a heraldic eagle, and in his right hand a shield bearing a striped device; the shield is positioned to the viewer's right. Two small annulets or pellets appear in the lower field, one to each side of the figure's feet, serving as decorative field elements. The entire design is contained within a plain inner circle and an outer beaded border. The figure's face is depicted with schematic features characteristic of 13th-century German bracteate coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (1223-1255) |
| Additional information |
The counts of Barby held a strategically awkward stretch of territory along the Saale and Elbe rivers, perpetually caught between the ambitions of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg and the expanding Ascanian margraves. Walther IV ruled during precisely the period when small Saxon bracteate coinage reached its most technically refined expression — thin enough to strike a single-sided impression from a leather or lead cushion, the metal worked to near-foil dimensions.
Barby bracteates of this period survive in very small numbers, most recovered from hoard contexts rather than circulation finds, suggesting they moved more as local exchange tokens than long-distance trade currency.