Johann III von Vienne held the see of Basel from 1366 until his death in 1382, a tenure marked by the escalating struggle between the bishop and the burghers of Basel over municipal autonomy. The city's move toward effective self-governance accelerated sharply in this period, and episcopal coinage authority — once uncontested — was increasingly a political negotiation rather than an unchallenged right.
At 0.24 g, these pfennigs represent the thin end of late medieval bracteate-adjacent silver coinage for the Upper Rhine region. The Wüthrich collection reference places this type firmly in the documented sequence of Basel episcopal issues, though surviving examples in attributable condition remain genuinely scarce.
Johann III von Vienne held the see of Basel from 1366 until his death in 1382, a tenure marked by the escalating struggle between the bishop and the burghers of Basel over municipal autonomy. The city's move toward effective self-governance accelerated sharply in this period, and episcopal coinage authority — once uncontested — was increasingly a political negotiation rather than an unchallenged right.
At 0.24 g, these pfennigs represent the thin end of late medieval bracteate-adjacent silver coinage for the Upper Rhine region. The Wüthrich collection reference places this type firmly in the documented sequence of Basel episcopal issues, though surviving examples in attributable condition remain genuinely scarce.