Penny (bracteate, court minting)

Description

The right to mint and issue coins had been a prerogative of the bishops ever since the reign of Bishop Adalbero II (999–1025). Only when holding court there could the king have coins bearing his own likeness and title struck for the host city. In terms of weight, manufacture and design, these specially minted coins were identical to those minted by the bishops, which in those days were the official currency. Thus the only difference between this royal penny minted for the king in Basel and the pennies minted by the bishops who ruled the city is that the bust is wearing a crown instead of a mitre and is holding a lily sceptre instead of a crozier. The royal penny must therefore date either from 1262, when Richard of Cornwall – nominally King of Germany, although he was not universally recognized as such – is known to have visited Basel, or from 1273/1274, when the newly elected King Rudolf von Habsburg was present in the city.