Bracteates
In eastern Germany during the 11th century thin silver coins known as
bracteates ("leaves") were struck. Given their thinness, such fragile
coins could not be struck from a set of dies for obverse ("heads") and reverse
("tails") images. Instead, the thin silver or gold was hammered over a raised relief
so that the image was impressed into the metal.
Silver moritzpfennig (c. 1180)
struck by the city of Magdeburg. The coin, showing the armored St. Maurice, was
nicknamed the "Penny of Maurice."
Silver bracteate (c. 1189) struck by
the city of Mühlhausen, depicting the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
(1122-1190) as Crusader.
Silver bracteate struck by the city
of Meissen with a portrait of Dietrich the Hard-Pressed (1197-1221), Margrave of Meissen.
Silver bracteate struck by the city
of Hildesheim with a portrait of Bishop Hartbert (1189-1216).