Pfennig - Bernard II Heiligenkreuz

Bernard II ruled Carinthia from 1202 until his death in 1256, and the Heiligenkreuz pfennigs attributed to his reign were struck at the mint associated with the Cistercian abbey of Heiligenkreuz — an institution with unusually close ties to the Babenberg dynasty that effectively controlled ducal politics throughout this period. These thin bracteate-style pfennigs circulated in a region where silver from the eastern Alpine mines was beginning to reshape local monetary supply, though output from any single ducal mint remained modest against the broader Bavarian and Styrian issues flooding the same trade routes.