Featured Common Medieval Coins: Info Thread

Medieval numismatics can feel a bit like a swamp to novice collectors: impossible to navigate, easy to get stuck in, full of alligators and blood-sucking insects.

First of all, there currently is no single catalogue that would allow a useful overview of medieval European coinage. While there are comfortably usable reference works for some areas (e.g. crusader states), the literature on other fields (e.g. the German-speaking lands) can be very confusing and requires reading skills in multiple languages. Secondly, medieval coins can be much harder to ‘understand’ than ancient coins, particularly due to the widespread absence of clear legends or ethnics as well as an iconography that is not intuitively accessible for modern collectors. Finally, more common and thus affordable medieval coins are regularly sold either without any references, with only vague attributions, or accompanied by false information. Though this might in some cases be part of a ‘sales strategy,’ it more often reflects the general difficulties of this collecting area.

Therefore, instead of another "pile-on what we have" thread, why don't we do a "pile-on what we know" thread? In irregular intervals, I’ll use this thread to post write-ups on medieval European coin types that a novice collector might encounter, and hopefully others will join in and do the same. “Medieval European coins” in this sense means everything minted in Europe, including Britain and the Latin East, between 500 and 1500 AD. Brief excursions into the 1500s might now and then be necessary. Comments, corrections, coin pictures, and additional info are, of course, most welcome.

The aim of this thread is to provide some hopefully useful background information for those who either start collecting medieval European coins or take a side interest in it. I’d like to encourage everyone to post common coins rather than highlights – people owning or considering to buy early Italian ducats, Anglo-Saxon sceats, or Merovingian tremisses usually already know quite a lot about these coins (or just have too much money). I’d also propose to exclude Byzantine coinage since there are many specialized threads as well as a bunch of introductory books and catalogues dealing with these.

 

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What: “Hand heller” (German: Händleinheller, Händelheller, Handheller)

Who, where, and when: Holy Roman Empire, imperial mint at Schwäbisch Hall (Swabia, southwestern Germany), ca. 1156–1396 AD. Imitated by different other mints in southern Germany.

Design: The obverse of a hand heller shows an opened right hand (or glove) with five fingers. The earliest coins have a border of dots around the hand, earlier coins often have a line border. Coins from before ca. 1300 tend to have a legend (usually HALLA, AHLLE, or similar) interspersed with strokes and crosses, which is almost never fully legible and mostly consists only of blundered small remains. In many cases, the legend is missing completely.


Schwäbisch Hall, imperial mint, heller, mid-13th c. Obv: Hand in line border, remains of blundered legend (HALLA-type). Rev: Cross with forked ends and pellet in each end in lined border, remains of blundered legend. 17.6mm, 0.55g. Ref: Raff 8 or 9.

On the reverse, we see a cross with forked ends and a pellet in each end. As with the obverse, earlier examples often have a border. The earliest issues show the legend FRISA for Fridericus Romanorum Imperator Semper Augustus (Raff 1–2), an abbreviated version of HEINRICVS (Raff 3–4), or a variant of MONETA (Raff 5–6). Later examples have no legend or a blundered combination of strokes, dots, and crosses.


Schwäbisch Hall, imperial mint, heller, late 13th c. Obv: Hand. Rev: Cross with forked ends and pellet in each end. 17.4mm, 0.54g. Ref: Raff 17.

A hand heller weighs ca. 0.5g, everything between ca 0.4g and 0.6g constitutes normal variation. There is a probably unsolvable discussion on whether lighter examples should be considered half-hellers (Hälblinge) or ‘Kevin specials.’ Weight does not change significantly over time, silver purity does, though. Earlier hand hellers are generally struck on more or less round flans, later types are struck on square flans hammered into a somewhat round-ish shape by the four-stroke-method (Vierschlag). Many examples dating to the second half of the 14th century have a mintmark in the form of a letter on the palm of the hand.

Iconography: The hand (or better: glove) is a legal symbol. The Saxon Mirror, a book of German customary law compiled ca. 1220–1235 AD, states that “nobody shall establish a market or a mint without the consent of the judge in whose district it is situated. According to the law, the king shall also send his glove to indicate his approval” (Nimant en sal markt noch munze erhebin ane des richters urlop, in des gerichte das lit. Ouch sal der kunig durch recht sinen hantzchen dar senden zu bewisene, das is sin wille si). The illustration below comes from a 14th c. illuminated manuscript of the Saxon Mirror and shows a mint worker giving out coins next to a cross with a glove, which serves as a symbol for a legally established mint and market. The hand hellers belong into this context of legal iconography: the hand on their obverse is a glove and symbolizes the right to mint coins and have a market. Often, this coin is sold as showing the “hand of God” – this interpretation lacks any historical basis and should be considered a clever advertisement somewhat analogous to offering Tiberius denarii as “tribute pennies.”


(Dresden, SLUB, Mscr.Dresd.M.32, fol. 28v.)

Apart from its religious significance, the cross on the reverse, together with the glove, might have served as an emblem of imperial power and law, pointing to a conjunction of secular and divine justice in the Holy Roman Empire. Since the cross had been present on different German coins since the 10th century, it likely had some recognition value, too.

Historical background: The hand heller was the dominant trade coin of southwestern Germany in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the 12th century, the economically important and increasingly urbanized regions at the Upper Rhine needed a reliable anchor currency, and this need was met when a market (the Michaelsmarkt) and an imperial mint were established in the Swabian city of Hall. It’s not absolutely clear when the mint started to operate: the market was established in 1156 AD and the first written document mentioning money struck at Hall dates to 1189 AD. Somewhen between these dates, the first hand hellers must have been produced.

Schwäbisch Hall had become wealthy by trading in salt yet didn’t have its own silver mines. The silver needed for the plethora of hellers came from melting down other coins – apparently a very profitable business. In the 13th century, the heller’s design even made it into Schwäbisch Hall’s civic coat of arms:



Originally under imperial control, the flourishing Hall mint changed hands a couple of times. Albrecht I (r. 1298–1308), for example, temporarily leased it to a group of Florentine merchants. In the first half of the 14th century, different other German cities, including Munich (1310), Speyer (1324), Frankfurt, and Nuremberg (1320s), began to strike hand hellers. When late hand hellers are attributed to Hall, this should thus be taken with a grain of salt: it is virtually impossible to distinguish the products of the different mints.

The heller, whose name derives from “Hall,” basically was a pfennig (in Latin sources: denarius). Yet, the weight of the German pfennige varied strongly depending on the region – for example, one Cologne pfennig (ca. 1.461 g) was worth about for Basel pfennige (0.365g). The weight of the heller, a bit more than 0.5g, was about the standard for most southern German pfennige.

Since the competition between the different cities minting hellers led to a decline of silver purity, emperor Charles IV (r. 1346–1378) in 1356 issued the “Sulzbach Heller Edict.” In theory, a heller now had to weigh 0.634g and contain 0.211g of silver. Additionally, each mint had to mark their coins with an individual sign, usually a letter in the palm of the hand. Due to these mintmarks, late hellers can be identified quite easily. The attribution of the mintmarks is in some cases up for debate, though.

In 1385, Wenzel IV (r. 1376/8–1400) effectively halved the value of the heller and gave the right to mint this coin to the imperial mints in Hall, Augsburg, Nuremberg, and Ulm. This devaluation accelerated the decline of the heller, which had lost its importance by the beginning of the 15th century. In Hall itself, the right to mint coins was passed to the city in 1396. This marks the end of the heller and the start of civic coinage from Hall.

Reference works: The best and to my knowledge only specialized monograph and catalogue is Albert Raff: Die Münzen und Medaillen der Stadt Schwäbisch Hall. Freiburg im Breisgau: Kricheldorf-Verlag 1986 (in German, with plates). There is a large number of German articles on different mintmarks and hoard finds – if someone is interested in this, Raff’s bibliography is a good starting point for further reading.

Rarity and value: This is a very common type. For regular and problem-free examples like the two shown above, I’d expect a price tag somewhere between $10 and $30, depending on how nice the coin is, on whether it is fully attributed, and on how fast the dealer wants to sell it. Hellers are more commonly offered by European sellers than in the US, e.g. on ma-shops. If correctly identified, the earliest examples with the FRISA legend can be considerably more expensive, and specific later mintmarks might command a premium. At European coin shows, one often finds pick bins were a hand heller bargain or two can be made. As usual, there are always some hand hellers offered online at fantasy prizes and advertised as rare – caveat emptor!

 

When I first started collection mediaeval coins my focus was on historical figures I recognized and was interested in. This included Edward I of England. I loved that one could possess a coin of such an historical figure. For his wars against the Scots he was given the title "The hammer of the Scots". He was also called "Longshanks" for his tall stature. His program of building many castles across Great Britain was his way of enforcing English rule. A coin like this is great for a beginner not only because of its history but because of its availability and price.

Edward the 1st pennies are widely available in a range of conditions. Overall they are not rare. They are also affordable. The one below was 50.00 USD. It has a nice portrait and mostly readable legends.

For around 50.00 a new collector can buy a coin issued by one of the most famous kings of England. I would call that a good start to any mediaeval collection.



England, Plantagenet Kings
ND AR Penny Edward I 1272-1307 London
(19.1 mm 1.4 g)
Class III g, late “S”.
North 1022 S 1393
Purchased from H. J. Berk May 15, 2017
201stBid or Buy sale lot 516

 

One of the "hand" coins has been on my list for a while, nice write up @Orielensis !

Do you know much about the "Vierschlag" method of striking coins? I've always been curious about how and why it was done. I thought I read somewhere that the coins was struck on a single sided die, then struck on another, which damaged the devices withe those distinctive square shaped lines on the coin. Is that correct? If so, why did they do it?


Here is a close to contemporary coin stuck the same way.



Duke Bernhard von Spanheim, Austria, AR Pfennig, 1202-1256

O: Bernhard standing, holding staff and flag. R: Paschal Lamb advancing right. 17 mm, 1.1 g

 

Thanks for the compliment, @chrsmat71, and nice Carinthian pfennig!

Concerning the Vierschlag, I read about a somewhat different reason for it. Many medieval flans were produced by cutting them from a thin metal sheet. Cutting out round flans created a lot of 'waste,' which had to be melted down and rolled into sheets once more. To make the process a bit easier, medieval mint workers cut out square flans and hammered them into a round shape with four strokes. Sometimes, the edges were afterwards trimmed a little to make the coin perfectly round and also to control weight (see my first heller), in most cases, though, the coin was left as square-ish as it was (see my second heller).

 

Excellent thread.. as a novice I would like to know more about Crusader coins that could be collected by beginners. I look forward to this thread developing and hopefully touching on this subject.

 

Here is a cool one from the Late Middle Ages that defines present day ridiculous ju-ju about Friday the 13th:


FRANCE
PHILIPPE IV LE BEL
CE 1285-1314 AR 25mm GROS TOURNOIS À L'O ROND
DUPLESSY 213 -
Killed off Knights Templar Friday 13 October 1307

 

I'm a big fan of medieval coins, though I agree they are not for the faint of heart.

I have been focused on England, with a smattering of interest in France, Ireland, Scotland, and Scandinavia. I have not started Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, etc. It is for no good reason that I've avoided these. In there are only so many coins one can collect.

 

Kingdom of Castile & Leon
I hadn’t originally heard of this kingdom, but after reaching out last summer to (and the gracious help from) CTer @TheRed, he shared with me that they were in fact from medieval Spain, the Kingdom of Castile and Leon (in general, ranging 910-1715 AD). For more info on medieval coinage from Spain, check out this site: http://www.maravedis.net

Here are my 3 coins that sparked this searching and studying.

Enrique IV, 1454-1474 AD
BL Medio Cuartillo, Burgos Mint
Obverse: + ENRICVS : CARTVS : DEI : G, around a bust crowned frontally inside a circular border.
Reverse: + ENRICVS : REX : CASTELLE, around a castle with B (mint) below, inside a circular border.
References: (Does anyone have MEC vol. 6 The Iberian Peninsula???)

From Wikipedia:
Enrique IV's father died on July 20, 1454 and he was proclaimed king the following day. One of King Enrique’s first priorities was the alliance with Portugal. He achieved this by marrying a second time to Joan of Portugal, daughter of King Edward of Portugal, in 1455. During his reign as king, Enrique IV spent a lot of time at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid where he would stay there for long periods of time. The Royal Alcazar was later replaced with the Royal Palace of Madrid by the rulers of Spain. After the death of the king, war broke out in Castile. Enrique’s half-sister Isabella I became Castile's next monarch.​

Juan II, 1406-1454 AD
AE Blanca, SEVILLE Mint
Obverse: + IOhANES : REX : GRACI [an educated guess... any help reading this?], around lion left inside border of 6 lobes.
Reverse: + IOhANES : REX : GRACI, around a circle that contains a border of 6 lobes with a castle inside with S below.
References: (Would this one be in MEC vol. 6 The Iberian Peninsula???)

From Wikipedia:
Juan II's reign, lasting 48 years, was one of the longest in Castilian history, but Juan himself was not a particularly capable monarch. He spent his time verse-making, hunting, and holding tournaments. He was "[T]all and handsome, fair-skinned and slightly ruddy... his hair was the color of a very mature hazelnut, the nose a little snub, the eyes between green and blue... he had very graceful legs and feet and hands." Juan II was the single largest contributor to the continuing construction of the Alcázar of Segovia and built the "New Tower" known today as the "Tower of John/Juan II".​

Philip II (Felipe II) of Spain, ruled 1556 - 1582 AD
Æ/BL Blanca (1/2 maravedi), Cuenca mint, 1556-1576
Obverse: Crowned monogram of king (PHIL sharing elements, VS entwined); in left field, patriarchal cross; in right field, chalice with star above; all within dotted circle.
Reverse: Three towered castle; in left field, unknown element; in right field C (Cuenca mint mark). Assayer - Pedro Román.
References: Cayon 3286, Calico 815

(@Mat has a better castle: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/philip-ii-blanca.270454/)

 

While I haven’t been too active lately (work keeps throwing me for a loop), some of my older threads would be good references for medieval collectors. First of all, the book reviews:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/fitzs-medieval-book-review.286343/

As for more common coins that collectors may encounter, the coins of Champagne come to mind:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/medieval-the-champagne-fairs.290610/

And also cut coins:
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/medieval-cut-pennies.266902/

 

And your post on the Hand Hellers is excellent! That is worthy of its own thread imo...

 

@Justin Lee : Nice coins! I don't have MEC 6, unfortunately, but I have Cayón: Las Monedas Españolas I (2005). Not a great catalogue, but it gives you a reference. Your first coin is Cayón 1683 (Burgos mint), your second one is Cayón 1525 (Sevilla mint), and your final one is Cayón 3292 (Cuenca mint, con cruz patriarcal a izquierda).

@FitzNigel : Thanks for the compliment and for the links. I very much enjoy reading your book reviews – they are a great resource.

 

The Friesach pfennig is an enormously complex topic and a collecting area of its own. Specialist collectors and experts will thus excuse the brevity of this write-up. It is meant to give a brief outline and thus is necessarily reductive in nature.

What: “Friesach pfennig,” “Friesach penny,” denarius frisacensis

Who, where, when: First minted for the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg and the Counts of Carinthia at Friesach (today in Austria), ca. in the late 1120s. Soon imitated at different mints by a number of other regional authorities, including but not limited to the Bishops of Bamberg, the Counts of Gorizia, the House of Andechs-Merania, and the Patriarchs of Aquileia. The production of the coin type at Friesach ended in the mid-14th century.

Design: ‘Friesach pfennig’ is a numismatic umbrella term for a class of small silver coins of primarily Austrian origin that circulated mainly in the Alpe-Adria region in the mid-12th to early 14th centuries. The term is somewhat misleading: not all Friesach pfennige were actually struck at Friesach. Hundreds of types from over twenty mints are recorded and show various designs. I am thus limiting this write-up to a selection of commonly encountered types. While most Friesach pfennige look somewhat similar to the examples shown below, there are numerous outliers. For example, some late coins (e.g. CNA, Cb87–118) resemble the design of Vienna pfennige, others show e.g. heraldic animals instead of a human figure on the obverse. In order to dive more deeply into the matter, you’d have to consult the respective catalogue (all details below).

Early pfennige minted for the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg usually show a bishop holding a crosier and a book on the obverse. The issues of the Bishops of Bamberg, the Patriarchs of Aquileia, and some other issuers mostly imitate this design closely but add their own legends. Probably most common (and, in my eyes, most desirable) is the ERIACENSIS-type minted for Adalbert III, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg 1168–1172 and 1183–1200:


Adalbert III of Bohemia, Prince–Archbishopric of Salzburg, Friesach pfennig, ca. 1170–1200 AD, Friesach mint. Obv: E[R]IAC[EN]SIS (retrograde), bishop standing facing, holding crosier and book. Rev: church building with two towers, cross above pediment, four ringlets (windows?) below. 19mm, 0.97g. Ref: CNA, Ca9.

Architectural elements tend to dominate the reverse, especially but not only of episcopal issues. See for example this coin of Prince-Archbishop Eberhard II (r. 1200–1246):


Eberhard II, Prince–Archbishopric of Salzburg, Friesach pfennig, ca. 1220–1230 AD, Pettau (Ptuj) mint. Obv: [E]B[E]RHAR[DS EPS], bishop standing facing, holding lily sceptre in each hand. Rev: portrait of bishop between two towers, crosses above pediments. 15mm, 0.83g. Ref: CNA, Cg1.

More creative reverses exist, too, such as this combination of bishop’s heads and stars on another coin of Eberhard II:


Eberhard II, Prince–Archbishopric of Salzburg, Friesach pfennig, 1200–1246 AD, Friesach mint. Obv: + [EBERHAR]DS EPS, bishop standing facing, holding crosier and book. Rev: two bishop's heads and two stars in a cross arrangement. 18mm, 0.66g. Ref: CNA, Ca12.

Although many different obverse types exist, most secular coins somewhat follow the Salzburg model by showing a bust portrait or full figure representing the respective ruler on the obverse. Instead of the episcopal insignia, this figure usually carries a sword, wears armour, and often holds a shield, banner, cross, or similar item. There really is no rule of thumb for the reverses of secular issues. The image below (courtesy of @chrsmat71) gives an example.


Bernhard of Spanheim, Duchy of Carinthia, Friesach pfennig, 1202–1256 AD, St. Veit mint. Obv: DUX BERNARDVS or similar, duke standing facing holding cross and flag. Reverse: Paschal lamb r. Ref: CNA, Cb16.

The weight of the Friesach pfennige varies greatly and declines over time. The earliest issues tend to weigh between 0.9 and 1.3g, while 14th century examples often have less than 0.5g. Half-pfennige (Hälblinge) exist, and it can be difficult to distinguish them from underweight pfennige. Especially the early types are struck from very good metal, often containing more than 90% silver. Many Friesach pfennige are produced using the four-stroke-method (Vierschlag), heavily impacting their appearance.

Historical background: In the High and Late Middle Ages, the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg, the main issuer of the Friesach pfennige, was not just an ecclesiastical institution but also a more or less self-governed principality of the Holy Roman Empire. The Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg held large territories in what today is Austria, Slovenia, and Bavaria. Most other issuers of this coin type, in particular the Dukes of Carinthia, the Bishops of Bamberg, and the Patriarchs of Aquileia, enjoyed a similar status: they ruled as ‘almost sovereign’ princes within the feudal system of the empire, subject only to the (usually absent) emperor.

This initial remark is important in order to understand the history of the Friesach pfennig, which was first minted in the late 1120s by the Prince-Archbishops of Salzburg and the Dukes of Carinthia. The earliest and most important mint was located at Friesach in Carinthia, close to the rich silver mines at Zeltschach. It has often been assumed (e.g. Koch in CNA I, p.110) that the widespread Cologne pfennig served as a model for the Friesach pfennig. This still appears likely, although modern scholarship (e.g. Alram, in Härtel/Wenninger 1996) has convincingly argued that the early Friesach pfennige were minted to an independent standard in between those of the Regensburg and the Cologne pfennig.

The Friesach pfennig served primarily as a trade currency and as such closed an important economic gap: the large and politically diverse Alpe-Adria region saw a lot of trade but lacked reliable local money. Hence it doesn’t startle that the Friesach pfennige circulated not only in Austria but also in what now is northern Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia. Nor is it surprising that many regional authorities soon jumped on the bandwagon and minted their own versions or imitations of the Friesach pfennig. The contemporary term frisacensis moneta was used to refer to all of these issues and not just coins from the Friesach mint.


The area of circulation of the Friesach pfennige on a modern map

The ERIACENSIS-issue (see image above) minted for Prince-Archbishop Adalbert III (r. 1168–1172, 1183–1200), a son of the Bohemian king Vladislaus I and a quarrelsome frenemy of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, is probably most iconic and served as a model for many later issues. Under his successor, Prince-Archbishop Eberhard II (r. 1200–1246), the Friesach pfennig reached its pinnacle as the dominant trade coin of southeastern Europe.


Eberhard II, Prince–Archbishopric of Salzburg, Friesach pfennig, 1200–1246 AD, Friesach mint. Obv: Legend (EBERHARDS EPS or similar) obscured by Vierschlag, bishop standing facing, holding sword and cross. Rev: bishop's head between two towers; behind, cornice with two smaller towers. 17mm, 1.25g. Ref: CNA, Ca19.

Eberhard was a strident political heavyweight in the Holy Roman Empire, strongly involved in the conflict between the rivaling imperial houses Hohenstaufen and Welf, and eventually even excommunicated for supporting emperor Frederick II against the will of the papacy. The enormous amount of silver trade coinage that his mints produced also constituted an instrument of power in these strifes. The 14th century saw drastic economical and political changes (as well as the bubonic plague), the Carinthian silver deposits were increasingly depleted, and House Habsburg, following different currency policies, took over Carinthia and Carniola in 1335. As a side effect of these developments, the Friesach pfennig was superseded by other coin types. The Friesach mint closed around 1350.

Reference works: The standard reference work for Austrian medieval coins is the voluminous and incredibly erudite Bernhard Koch: Corpus Nummorum Austriacorum (CNA), volume 1: Mittelalter, Wien: Kunsthistorisches Museum 1994 (in German, with plates). Due to the great and confusing variety of Austrian medieval coinage, collectors in this field simply need this book. Unfortunately, it is long out of print and used copies currently cost about as much as an archaic Athenian tetradrachm. If there ever is a new and affordable edition, many collectors, including myself, will shed tears of joy. Until then, a local or institutional library might help, and possibly you could even consider copying the sections you need…

If you can’t get the CNA, the (dated) article by Arnold Luschin von Ebengreuth: Die Friesacher Pfennige: Beiträge zu ihrer Münzgeschichte und zur Kenntnis ihrer Gepräge (1922) might provide some orientation and can be found online here.

There is a large body of scholarly literature on the Friesach pfennig. Almost all of it is in German. I’d particularly highlight the collection of essays in R. Härtel, M. J. Wenninger (ed.): Die Friesacher Münze im Alpen-Adria-Raum / La moneta frisacense nell’ Alpe Adria, Graz: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt 1996 (in German and Italian). A list of other titles can be found here.

Rarity and value: There are both common and rare types, and prices vary accordingly. Common Friesach pennies in collectible condition, for example the important ERIACENSIS issue, may start as low as $20. In this price range, you’ll have to decide whether you want a weakly struck obverse or a weakly struck reverse. Since only few coins are nice on both sides, these usually command a hefty premium. Due to the catalogue situation described above, some dealers don’t bother to attribute Friesach pennies individually. Thus, bargains can often be found in pick bins or larger lots.

 

Thank you!!

 

@Orielensis Great write up on the Friesacher pieces. I have a number of lower grade examples that I bought on ebay 15+ years ago (inexpensive in group lots). I have been looking for a copy CNA Band 1 for years. I saw a copy for US$180 back in 2006 or 2007, but thought it was too expensive and didn't buy it. Still looking for a copy.

 

Those are some great write-ups @Orielensis with an absolute wealth of information. The handheller is a great looking coin, and one I will have to add to my collection. I will have to borrow your layout and try my hand at writing about English groats and Anglo-Gallic deniers.

Thanks for the shout-out @Justin Lee. Your Enrique IV is a great coin and I always enjoy the challenge of identifying medieval coins.

That's a really nice post on cut half pennies @FitzNigel . I've been tempted to post some of them from my collection, but I figured that medieval coins garner little interest on CT so why bother with the even more specialized world of cut pennies.

 

I'm glad you posted the link to your older thread. The Champagne fairs are famous among political economists as an example of the production of law without government. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-0343.1990.tb00020.x I studied them in graduate school. Might have to get myself a Provins denier!

 

Great posts @Orielensis !

I have coin of Eberhard II pfennig as well...



Holy Roman Empire, Archbishopric of Salzburg, Eberhard II, 1200-1246 AD


Do I have my obverse and reverse backwards? I wasn't sure on this one.