Denier - Ermesinde

Ermesinde II ruled Luxembourg in her own right following the death of her second husband, Waleran III of Limburg, in 1226 — one of the few medieval noblewomen to exercise direct comital authority rather than regency. Her coinage was issued independently under her own name, a deliberate assertion of sovereign rule during a period when female succession in the region was politically contentious. The billon content of these deniers varied considerably across the issue, and surviving examples show meaningful differences in fabric that likely reflect shifting silver availability during the thirteen-year span.