Pfennig 'Vierzipfliger Löwenpfennig'

The Laufenburg branch of the Habsburgs controlled mint rights along the upper Rhine at a moment when the family's broader ambitions were just beginning to consolidate. This tiny bracteate-style pfennig was struck under counts who would, within a generation, see their line absorbed by the Austrian branch of the dynasty. The Laufenburg counts never produced coinage in large volume — their mint output was always constrained by the modest scale of their territorial holdings relative to their more powerful Habsburg cousins.

At 0.19 g, striking consistency was nearly impossible to maintain, and surviving examples frequently show off-center flans.