Politics
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1200 up to 1250
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Mecklenburg until 1945
Bracteate
- undated (1225-1245)
- principality of Mecklenburg
In the 13th century the Mecklenburg rulers minted coins for the first time. These coins were bracteates – hollow pfennigs embossed on one side. Without an inscription they showed the head of a bull, the heraldic animal of Mecklenburg. In the field of numismatics these coins are therefore referred to as bull’s head bracteates. They were worth one pfennig (denarius). For comparison: a hen cost two pfennigs in 1280. The coinage of the Mecklenburg rulers Borwin I. (died 1227), Nikolaus (1219-1225) and Johann (1229-1265) has survived. Wismar and Gadebusch were mints of the royal government.
Text: T. F.
