Pfennig - Johann II Senn von Münsingen

Johann II Senn von Münsingen governed the Bishopric of Basel during one of the most turbulent stretches in its medieval history, navigating the competing pressures of the Habsburgs, the city of Basel itself, and the broader upheaval of the Black Death, which tore through the Rhine valley in 1348–49. Episcopal coinage of this period was minted at Basel under increasingly strained circumstances, as the bishop's temporal authority over the city was being steadily eroded — a process that would culminate in full civic independence by the fifteenth century. At 0.36g, these bracteate-influenced pfennigs were already a debased shadow of earlier episcopal silver issues.