Pfennig 'Vierzipfliger'

The "Vierzipfliger" — named for its four-pointed, clover-like flan shape produced by pinching the blank before striking — is among the more distinctive bracteate-adjacent issues of the Upper Rhine region. The Counts of Habsburg-Laufenburg, a collateral branch that split from the main Habsburg line following the 1232 partition of family holdings, controlled the Rhine crossing at Laufenburg and derived enough toll revenue to justify their own mint output. The irregular flan was not decorative whimsy; it reduced silver content while maintaining nominal face value, a cost-cutting measure common to minor Rhenish lords operating thin margins.