Bohemia, Wenceslas II 1278 - 1305 Bracteat w. harpy, aluminum coin replica

$3.31
Unavailable
(catalogue number: MCO13)

Material: Aluminum. Size: 20 mm.

Bohemian and Polish king Wenceslas II performed a monetary reform in 1300, whereby he provided the land with a stable coin – the Prague Groschen. Thus, the monarchs Bracteates are the last Bohemian Bracteates. The history of the Bracteates: In 1210 king Ottokar I abandoned the minting of traditional Denarii due to their considerable devaluation at the time and had a new coin minted – the Bracteate (from the Latin bractea – a thin piece of metal). The Bracteate was a single-sided coin minted from a very thin piece of metal, mostly silver and exceptionally gold or copper. These Bracteates were struck on the model of the Meissen ones and Ottokar I had them minted because of the massive inflow of the Miessen Bracteates, South German Hellers and Viennese Pfennigs to the Czech lands in connection with the colonisation wave. Attempting to restore validity of his regalia to mint coins, the Czech king was issuing coins the people could have confidence in. Thus, a reliable coin was introduced once again with a nominal value nearly equal to the value of the metal it contained.

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