Pfennig

Bern's civic coinage rights were granted by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1218, but the city took over a century to develop a truly independent minting operation. This pfennig falls within the period when Bern was consolidating its position as a dominant force in the Burgundian plateau, using coin production as much as a political statement of autonomy as a practical commercial tool. The Zähringer-founded city had no hereditary ruler to answer to after 1218 — a structural rarity that gave its mint unusual continuity.

At 0.25 g, striking losses and die wear were constant problems for the Bern mint at this scale.