Pfennig - Philipp von Spanheim or Ulrich Friesach

The Friesach pfennig tradition — so dominant in central European trade that "Friesacher" became a generic term for silver pennies across the eastern Alpine region — was already in decline by the mid-thirteenth century, undercut by the spread of thicker, heavier coinage from the west. This piece falls in the contested attribution zone between Philipp von Spanheim and Ulrich III, a problem that has occupied specialists since Luschin von Ebengreuth's foundational work on the type. The CNA cataloguing reflects unresolved die evidence rather than scholarly indecision.