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Obol In the name of Conrad II
| Issuer | Piacenza, City of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1140-1313 |
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| Currency | Lira |
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| Obverse description | Central field displays a stylized cross or column-like device within a beaded inner circle, surrounded by a raised rope or cable border. The outer legend, divided by pellets or small crosses, reads DE PLACEN CIA in degraded Latin characters disposed around the circumference. The hammered flan is irregular in shape, typical of medieval Italian communal coinage, with weak areas of strike at the periphery. The overall design is austere and schematic, reflecting the anonymous civic issues of the Commune of Piacenza. |
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| Mintage | ND (1140-1313) |
| Additional information |
Piacenza's coinage during this period operated under a peculiar legal fiction: coins struck "in the name of Conrad" invoked the Hohenstaufen emperor Conrad II as nominal authority long after any living emperor by that name held meaningful power over the city. It was a formula of convenience, preserving imperial legitimacy on the face of coinage while the commune exercised effective monetary control — a arrangement that persisted across nearly two centuries of political turbulence, including the wars between the empire and the Italian city-states.