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Pfennig - Frederick III
| Issuer | Duchy of Austria (Austrian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1314-1330 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Facing bust of Duke Frederick III depicted in low relief at centre of the broadly irregular flan, rendered in the crude, stylised manner typical of Austrian bracteate-influenced pfennigs of the early fourteenth century. The effigy is shown with a round, somewhat childlike face and appears to wear a ducal or princely headpiece. The surrounding field is plain and unlettered, with the characteristic flow-lines and surface undulations produced by the hand-hammering technique. No legend is present on this side. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Frederick III (known as Frederick the Fair) struck these small deniers during a period when he was simultaneously Duke of Austria and a claimant to the Holy Roman imperial throne, fighting a prolonged civil war against Louis IV of Bavaria that lasted from 1314 until Frederick's capture at the Battle of Mühldorf in 1322. The Viennese pfennig coinage of this period was minted under considerable fiscal strain — war finance depended heavily on it.
After Mühldorf, Frederick was imprisoned at Trausnitz Castle for three years before an unusual dual-kingship arrangement was negotiated in 1325, a settlement with virtually no parallel in medieval German constitutional history.