The Lilienpfennig was a type of

Late Medieval The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

pfennig The 'pfennig' (; . 'pfennigs' or ; symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, i ...

'' from the German

Free Imperial City In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

which was stamped on one side with the image of a

fleur-de-lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

. These silver ''pfennigs'' were the forerunners of the bowl-shaped ''

Schüsselpfennig A Schüsselpfennig ("dish ''pfennig''"), also ''Gehulchter Pfennig'' ("hollow ''pfennig''") is so called due to the stamping technique which results in a concave, one-sided type of ''Pfennig'' coin. It was probably first minted in 1374 in the Pal ...

'' and were struck from the beginning of the 14th century. They had a diameter of 14 to 17 mm and weighed about 0.32 to 0.45 g. The ''Lilienpfennigs'' were one of the so-called 'eternal ''pfennigs (''

Ewiger Pfennig The ''Ewiger Pfennig'' or eternal penny ( lat, denarius perpetuus) was a coin of the regional ''pfennig'' period (bracteate period), which was minted until the late medieval ''groschen'' time. These coins are mostly of the '' Hohlpfennig'' or "hol ...

'') because, unlike most

bracteate A bracteate (from the Latin ''bractea'', a thin piece of metal) is a flat, thin, single-sided gold medal worn as jewelry that was produced in Northern Europe predominantly during the Migration Period of the Germanic Iron Age (including the Vende ...

s, they did not have to be exchanged regularly for a fee.Kahnt (2005), p. 429 The

planchet A planchet is a round metal disk that is ready to be struck as a coin. An older word for planchet is flan. They are also referred to as blanks. History The preparation of the flan or planchet has varied over the years. In ancient times, the f ...

used for striking the coin was larger than the

coin die Minting, coining or coinage is the process of manufacturing coins using a kind of stamping, the process used in both hammered coinage and milled coinage. This "stamping" process is different from the method used in cast coinage. A coin die is ...

itself, resulting in a broad, unstamped perimeter that bent up like a plate due to the die pressure. These small convex coins were easier to handle in payment transactions than their small flat-faced counterparts. It is also recorded that the upturned rim was a protection against

clipping Clipping may refer to: Words * Clipping (morphology), the formation of a new word by shortening it, e.g. "ad" from "advertisement" * Clipping (phonetics), shortening the articulation of a speech sound, usually a vowel * Clipping (publications) ...

at that time. The small balls in the design of the heraldic lily are the

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s of the lily. Sometimes their stalks are recognizable. The coin design is set in a circle of 'pearls'.

References

Literature

* Helmut Kahnt: ''The big coin dictionary from A to Z.'', Regenstauf 2005 * Heinz Fengler, Gerd Gierow, Willy Unger: "Transpress Encyclopedia Numismatics", Berlin 1976 {{Pfennig Silver coins Coins of the Holy Roman Empire History of Strasbourg Pfennig