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Denier - Otto III and Adelaide temple, EDILAD
| Issuer | Holy Roman Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 983-995 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Within a raised inner circle, a bold cross divides the field into four quarters, each containing two pellets arranged symmetrically, producing a distinctive eight-pellet composition. The cross arms are rendered in high relief characteristic of Ottonian hammered coinage. A circular raised border frames the central device, with the Latin royal legend distributed around the outer field between the border and the coin's irregular rim. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | . OTTO REX (Translation: King Otto.) |
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| Additional information |
This denier was struck during the regency period following Otto II's sudden death in Rome in December 983, when Otto III was only three years old. Real authority passed to his mother Theophanu and then, after her death in 991, to his grandmother Adelaide — whose name appears on this coin. The pairing of Otto's name with Adelaide's reflects a deliberate legitimizing strategy, associating the child emperor with the most senior Ottonian authority available.
Adelaide outlived Theophanu by nearly a decade and remained politically active into her seventies.