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Light Denier - Landfried
| Issuer | Abbey of Kempten |
|---|---|
| Year | 1166-1185 |
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| Value | 1 Light Denier (1/2) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Facing bust of an abbot, depicted in low relief within a beaded inner circle, holding a crozier to the left. The figure is rendered in a Romanesque stylized manner characteristic of 12th-century German ecclesiastical coinage, with facial features and vestments summarily but expressively indicated. A partial legend runs along the outer border of the irregularly shaped flan. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Blank, as is characteristic of bracteate coinage of this type, the reverse showing only a faint incuse mirror impression of the obverse design resulting from the single-die striking technique employed. |
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| Additional information |
The Abbey of Kempten was among the oldest Benedictine foundations in German-speaking lands, traditionally dated to the 8th century, and by the 12th century held imperial abbey status granting it the right to strike coin. Landfried served as abbot during a period when such ecclesiastical minting privileges were actively contested between the imperial church and secular territorial lords across Swabia.
The specific attribution to Landfried's abbacy rests on die studies correlating the Gebhardt sequence — this piece falling within his documented tenure of roughly two decades.