Catalog
Pfennig unknown ruler
| Issuer | Bishopric of Gurk (Austrian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1200 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field features a bold patriarchal or Greek cross with equal arms, rendered in high relief against a plain field; flanking the cross are stylized architectural or vegetal elements, possibly representing towers or branch motifs. A roughly circular border of pellets or beaded design frames the composition. The workmanship is characteristic of hammered Austrian bracteate-style pfennigs of the early 13th century, with an irregular flan and no legible legend. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Bishopric of Gurk, founded in 1072 by Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg, occupied an unusual position in the medieval monetary landscape of Carinthia — suffragans to Salzburg yet with independent temporal authority sufficient to issue coin. The attribution "unknown ruler" is honest: episcopal pfennigs of this region and period are notoriously difficult to assign, as dies were often shared, recut, or inherited across episcopates without systematic modification. CNA sequencing places this piece in the early thirteenth century bracket, but the precise bishop cannot be confirmed from die evidence alone.