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Denier - Henry III Freising mint
| Issuer | Holy Roman Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 1039-1056 |
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| Currency | Denier (843-1385) |
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| Obverse description | Facing bust of Emperor Henry III in low relief, rendered in the schematic Ottonian-Salian style typical of mid-eleventh-century German pfennige. The effigy is enclosed within a polygonal inner frame, likely hexagonal or octagonal, set against a flat field. The facial features are stylised, with pronounced eyes and a broad frontal presentation consistent with imperial iconography of the period. The circumferential Latin legend reads + HEINRICVS IMPR, identifying the issuer as Emperor Henry. The coin is struck on an irregular flan with characteristic uneven edges resulting from the hand-hammered production technique. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central design depicting a schematic architectural motif, likely a stylised representation of a church or cathedral façade, rendered in the flat linear manner typical of Salian-era episcopal mint issues. The structure features prominent vertical and horizontal elements suggestive of towers or a gate, consistent with civic or ecclesiastical building types used to denote the mint city on contemporary German pfennige. The design is enclosed within a beaded inner border, surrounded by the circumferential Latin legend + FRIGISINGA CIVIT, identifying the mint as the city of Freising. The outer border of the coin is defined by a ring of pellets or a beaded rim, characteristic of hammered coinage of this period. |
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| Additional information |
Henry III's Freising deniers were struck under the authority of the Bishop of Freising, one of several Bavarian ecclesiastical mints operating under imperial privilege during his reign. Henry was unusually aggressive in reasserting royal control over church appointments — his insistence on naming his own candidates to German bishoprics was a direct precursor to the Investiture Controversy that would consume his son's reign. The Freising mint operated within that tension, its output technically imperial but physically under episcopal administration.
Kluge Kar#157 places this among the documented Bavarian regional types. Output from Freising was modest compared to the major Rhenish mints.