Denier Bracteate - Wichmann of Seeburg

Wichmann of Seeburg governed Magdeburg from 1152 until his death in 1192, one of the longer episcopates of the period, and used that stability to develop the city into a significant commercial hub on the Elbe. Bracteates — struck on a single thin flan from one die, the image pressing through to the reverse as a mirror impression — were the dominant coinage technology in northern and central Germany throughout the twelfth century, largely replacing double-sided deniers in the region. The type recorded under Mehl Magd#244 is among the more precisely attributed issues of this reign, the Bonhomme concordance confirming the die grouping.