Denier 'Vierzipfeliger Pfennig'

The "Vierzipfeliger Pfennig" — named for the four pointed lobes produced by a bracteate-adjacent striking technique on undersized flans — belongs to a burst of episcopal coinage in the Upper Rhine region during the mid-twelfth century, when German bishops routinely held minting rights as a direct extension of imperial privilege. The Bishopric of Constance was among the most territorially expansive sees north of the Alps, and its monetary output reflects that reach.

At under 0.4 grams, these pieces circulated in a local economy where fractions of the denier did real transactional work.