Cologne's Weißpfennig issues of the early 1420s belong to a period of intense monetary rivalry among the Rhenish ecclesiastical territories. Archbishop Dietrich II von Moers, who came to power in 1414, was an aggressive political operator who repeatedly clashed with the city of Cologne itself over minting rights — the archbishops held theoretical authority, but the city exercised practical control for much of the century. These pieces were struck at a moment when that tension was particularly acute.
The Noss Co II references 314–318 span a tight cluster of die variants distinguishable primarily by minor heraldic and lettercutting differences rather than any change in monetary policy.
Cologne's Weißpfennig issues of the early 1420s belong to a period of intense monetary rivalry among the Rhenish ecclesiastical territories. Archbishop Dietrich II von Moers, who came to power in 1414, was an aggressive political operator who repeatedly clashed with the city of Cologne itself over minting rights — the archbishops held theoretical authority, but the city exercised practical control for much of the century. These pieces were struck at a moment when that tension was particularly acute.
The Noss Co II references 314–318 span a tight cluster of die variants distinguishable primarily by minor heraldic and lettercutting differences rather than any change in monetary policy.