Pfennig - Hartmann von Froburg

Zofingen's civic coinage rights derived from its status as a Habsburg-adjacent free town in the Aargau, but this bracteate-era pfennig is associated with Hartmann von Froburg, whose comital family held considerable regional influence until the line died out in 1367. The Froburgs operated as a competing power to the early Habsburgs across much of what is now northwestern Switzerland, and coins struck under their influence often circulated well beyond their nominal territorial authority.

At 0.38 grams, these pieces were struck near the practical lower limit for functional silver coinage, and losses to clipping and fragmentation were substantial.