Catalog
Denier two gryphon heads/lily
| Issuer | Demmin, City of |
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| Year | |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.4 g |
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| Obverse description | A plain cross with splayed terminals occupies the central field, beneath which two confronted gryphon heads face each other in heraldic opposition. The design is boldly struck in low relief on an irregular flan typical of medieval hammered coinage. No legend is present. The overall composition reflects the civic heraldic tradition of the Pomeranian town of Demmin. |
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| Reverse description | A stylized lily or fleur-de-lis is depicted centrally in the field, flanked on either side by a tower or turret, forming a schematic representation of the city's architectural and heraldic symbolism. The design is rendered in low relief with simplified, bold forms characteristic of small medieval billon coinage. No legend or inscription is present. The irregular flan and weak strike in places are consistent with hammered production of the period. |
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| Additional information |
Demmin's civic coinage is inseparable from its position as a fortified Hanseatic town on the Peene-Tollense confluence — a strategic site that changed hands repeatedly between Pomeranian dukes, Brandenburg margraves, and Swedish forces across several centuries. The right to strike billon deniers was jealously guarded by the town council as evidence of municipal autonomy, and issues this light suggest production late in the sequence, when silver content had been progressively reduced. Kop#52.1 distinguishes this die pairing from closely related Demmin types that circulated concurrently.