Catalog
Pfennig - Werinto-Dietrich
| Issuer | County of Formbach (Austrian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1108-1140 |
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| Reference(s) | CNA#B34 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Central field displays a highly stylized architectural motif comprising three towers or turrets, the central tower taller and flanked by two shorter lateral towers, all rising from a stepped or arcaded base. Two S-shaped ornamental elements appear between the towers, possibly representing stylized columns or decorative fills. The entire composition is set within a beaded inner circle, surrounded by a partial marginal Latin legend in degraded form, largely illegible due to the irregular flan. The bold, schematic architectural design is typical of the Romanesque tradition of Austrian regional Pfennig coinage of the early 12th century. |
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| Additional information |
The County of Formbach, a small but strategically positioned lordship in the Inn valley near the Bavarian-Austrian frontier, produced bracteate-style pfennigs under its counts during a period when regional lords were aggressively asserting minting rights against both episcopal and imperial claims. The CNA B34 attribution places this squarely within the coinage of Werinto and Dietrich, two successive counts whose tenures coincided with the turbulent aftermath of the Investiture Controversy, when secular magnates exploited imperial weakness to consolidate local economic authority.
Formbach's mint output was modest, and surviving examples are genuinely scarce.