Pfennig - Imperial administration or interregnum

The date range here spans one of the most turbulent stretches in Austrian history: the extinction of the Babenberg line and the interregnum that followed. Duke Frederick II — "the Quarrelsome" — died without an heir at the Battle of the Leitha in 1246, leaving Austria without a native ruler. The duchy passed through competing imperial and papal claims before Rudolf of Habsburg finally consolidated control in 1278. Coins struck in this window were issued under fragmented authority, which accounts for the loose attribution and the difficulty of assigning specific pieces to a single issuing hand.