Denier - Henry IV Aachen mint

Henry IV's reign was defined by the Investiture Controversy — his humiliation at Canossa in 1077, walking barefoot in the snow to beg Gregory VII's absolution, is one of the more dramatic moments in medieval political history. Aachen held particular symbolic weight for the Ottonian and Salian dynasties as Charlemagne's coronation city, and coinage struck there carried deliberate dynastic freight. The fifty-year span of this type reflects how slowly die styles evolved at Rhenish mints during this period rather than any single production episode.