Catalog
Pfennig - Eberhard I Friesach
| Issuer | Archbishopric of Salzburg (Austrian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1147-1164 |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A bold crutch cross (cross pattée with splayed arms) occupying the central field, with a large pellet or sphere placed in each of the four quadrants formed by the arms of the cross. The design is framed by a toothed or beaded inner circle, with a raised rim at the outer edge of the flan, typical of the Friesacher Pfennig coinage of the Archbishopric of Salzburg. |
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| Mint | Friesach |
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| Additional information |
Friesach, in Carinthia, became one of the most important minting centers in the German-speaking lands during the twelfth century precisely because it sat on the main trade route between Venice and the Danube basin. The archbishops of Salzburg held minting rights there from 1125, and the coins they struck — the so-called Friesacher Pfennig — spread so widely through central and southeastern Europe that they became a de facto regional currency, referenced in Hungarian, Bohemian, and Styrian documents for over a century after their initial issue.
Eberhard I held the archbishopric from 1147 to 1164, and his Friesach issues fall among the earliest attributable to a named archbishop within the CNA sequence.