Can anyone help me identify these and determine if they are of any value ?

I found these in a collection I recently purchased.
They are very thin and don't resemble typical ancient coinage.
Can anyone help me identify these and determine if they are of any value?

 

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Those are called bracteates.

 

Wow, Thanks for the quick reply. I've never seen anything like them. Do many people collect these?

 

Not many. They are an area ripe for research. This is a good article about them.

This is a good video about them:

 

Yeah, I agree. German or Austrian bracteates. Very thin silver medieval coins.

All medieval coins are tough. Tough to identify, tough to collect, tough to sell, just tough all around. There are some collectors of them, but most buyers of these would be for the curiosity value of an "old" silver coin. In higher grades the more serious buyers would be interested.

 

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These aren't bracteates.

Bracteates are uni-sided coins struck from very thin silver sheets using a single die, creating a high relief. Their reverse thus is a negative ("hollow") version of the obverse (see the example below).

@Roy Russell 's coins, on the other hand, have all been struck using a pair of dies and therefore show different designs on reverse and obverse, making them regular pennies or pfennige .

I recognize some of them as so-called "Friesach pfennige" from the Alpe-Adria region, and strongly assume that the others will turn out to be 12th–14th century pfennige, too. There are several hundred different types of "Friesach pfennige," which were struck by a number of different authorities (see this write-up).

A Friesach pfennig from my collection:

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.

For comparison, a bracteate:

Archbishopric of Magdeburg, Albrecht von Käfernburg, bracteate penny, ca. 1220–1232. Obv: OICI – IVSDV; St. Maurice, nimbate and wearing armour, standing facing, holding cross and lance flag; below, church building with two towers an an arch; inside, cranium relic. Rev: negative design (bracteate). 23mm, 0.68g. Ref: Berger 1586; Slg. Hauswaldt 167; Slg. Bonhoff 712.

 

Some identifications:


Ulrich II, Duchy of Carinthia, pfennig, 1256–1269, St. Veit mint, Obv: Bust facing, holding key in each hand, pellet under each elbow. Rev: lion walking l (as usual, weakly struck). Ref: CNA I, Cb32.


Bernhard, Duchy of Carinthia, pfenig, 1202–1256, St. Veit mint. Obv: Duke seated, holding sword (weakly struck). Rev: Bust of bishop above pediment with cross, between two towers with crosses. Ref: CNA I, Cb20.


Eberhard II, Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg, pfennig, Friesach mint, 1200–1246. Obv: EBERHARDUS, Archbishop seated facing, holding cross in each hand. Rev: Angel above tower. Ref: CNA I, Ca21.

Your second coin definitely is a Friesach pfennig, too, but I can't id it immediately.

Concerning your coin no 4, I am not sure – it could either be a type of Austrian pfennig I don't know or something completely different. I don't know.

 

You are correct of course. I have had this type before. Thanks for the great post.

 

Thank you. I thought bracteates could have reverses, so I guess the ones I have are pfennings. I think this is a very common assumption in the hobby, since mine came identified as bracteates.

 

Very interesting coins from the OP. Never have really seen an example of them before.

 

Hello


I colect are the coins is steel on sell?

 

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This is not a forum to buy coins nor are any coins being offered for sale here. There’s a separate forum for that. Also, this thread is from nearly 2 years ago and the person you’re soliciting has not been here since last year.

 

Sory, thank you.