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Pfennig - Eberhard II Friesach
| Issuer | Archbishopric of Salzburg (Austrian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1200-1235 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Enthroned bishop depicted facing forward in frontal view, seated on a bench or throne, holding a processional cross-staff in each hand. The effigy is rendered in the flat, stylized Romanesque manner characteristic of early 13th-century Austrian bracteate-related coinage. A circular legend reading X EBERA - DS EPS is inscribed in the field between two concentric circles, identifying the issuer as Archbishop Eberhard. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Friesach pfennigs occupy a singular place in medieval central European commerce — by the late twelfth century, the type had become the dominant trade currency across the eastern Alpine region and into the Balkans, so widely trusted that "Friesacher" became a generic term for quality silver coinage in regional documents regardless of actual origin. Eberhard II held the archbishopric from 1200 to 1246, and his issues funded both ecclesiastical building programs and the complex political maneuvering that kept Salzburg independent from both imperial and papal overreach during the interregnum conflicts of the early thirteenth century.
The Friesach mint itself sat in Carinthia, a strategic concession the archbishops had operated since the mid-twelfth century under rights contested periodically by the Dukes of Carinthia.