Pfennig - Leopold VI of Frederick II Gutenwerth

This bracteate-style pfennig was struck during the overlapping administrations of Duke Leopold VI and his successor Frederick II ("the Warlike"), a period marked by Frederick's chronic conflict with both the papacy and the Hungarian crown. Frederick's aggressive territorial campaigns and his excommunication by Gregory IX in 1236 created enough political instability that the ducal mint at Krems or Vienna was likely operating under interrupted authority for stretches of this eighteen-year window — which may account for the considerable die variation observed across surviving specimens of this type.