Obol - Eberhard II Friesach

Friesach, in Carinthia, was one of the most important minting centers in the German-speaking lands during the high medieval period, and the pfennigs and obols struck there circulated far beyond the Alps — archaeologically attested as far east as Hungary and the Baltic. Eberhard II held the archbishopric through a politically turbulent stretch that included ongoing friction with the Babenberg dukes and active participation in the affairs of the Staufen imperial court. The obol, struck at half the weight of the pfennig, served small-denomination exchange in a regional economy where silver by weight still drove most transactions.