Pfennig - Ortlieb

The Bishopric of Chur occupied a strategically awkward position in the late fifteenth century — squeezed between the expanding Swiss Confederacy and the Habsburgs, both of whom were actively courting or coercing Alpine ecclesiastical territories. Bishop Ortlieb von Brandis, who held the see from 1458 to 1491, navigated this pressure throughout his episcopate while maintaining the right to strike small silver coinage. At 0.29 g, these pfennigs were among the most fractional currency in circulation across the Graubünden region, used for the smallest daily transactions in mountain markets and toll points.