The ''Otto Adelheid Pfennig'' (OAP) was a German coin type bearing the names of Emperor

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

and his grandmother Adelaide of Burgundy (''Athalhet''), which was minted soon after 983 as a regional ''pfennig'' in the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

region. Minting took place at more than one mint in the area between

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

and

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...

and lasted unchanged until the middle of the 11th century.''Otto-Adelheid-Pfennig''
at museum-digital.de. Retrieved 28 May 2022. Otto Adelheid Pfennig Revers

Description

A cross is stamped on the obverse side, in the corners of which are the letters of the name Otto, here in the form "O-D-D-O", framed by the transcription DI GRA REX (for " Dei Gratia Rex" = "By the Grace of God King"). The reverse shows a stylized wooden church with the inscription: ATEAHLHT or ATHALHET. Depending on the time of minting, the silver coins weighed around 1.5 to 1.25 g and had a diameter of around 17 –20 mm.Hoops, Johannes (2004)
''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde.''
Vol. 26. Berlin: De Gruyter. ISBN 3-110-17734-X, p. 395.

References

Literature

* Vera Hatz: ''Zur Frage der Otto-Adelheid-Pfennige. Versuch einer Systematisierung auf Grund des schwedischen Fundmaterials.'' In: ''Commentationes de nummis saeculorum IX-XI in Suecia repertis.'' Vol. 1. Almqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm 1961, , pp. 105 -144. * Gert Hatz, Vera Hatz, Ulrich Zwicker, Noe and Zofia Gale: ''Otto-Adelheid-Pfennige. Untersuchungen zu Münzen des 10./11. Jahrhunderts.'' (= ''Commentationes de nummis saeculorum IX-XI in Suecia repertis.'' Nova Series 7). Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, Stockholm 1991, ISBN 9-171-92827-8. * Bernd Kluge: ''Überlegungen zu den Otto-Adelheid-Pfennigen. Stempelkritische Untersuchungen der Typen Hatz II (Dbg.1166, 1170) und AMEN (Dbg.1171).'' In: ''Commentationes de nummis saeculorum IX-XI in Suecia repertis.'' Nova Series 6: ''Sigtuna Papers, Proceedings of the Sigtuna Symposium in viking-age coinage 1–4 June 1989.'' Lund /. London 1990, pp. 167-181. * Peter Ilisch: ''Überlegungen zur Datierung der Otto-Adelheid-Pfennigen der Stufen Hatz II, III und IV.'' Wiadomości Numizmatyczne 49, 2005, pp. 39-62. * Klaus Giesen: ''Die Hälblinge der Otto-Adelheid-Pfennige, Fundanalyse und Stempelvergleich'' in: NUMMI DOCENT - commemorative publication for Peter Ilisch on the occasion of his 65th birthday on 28 April 2012, (ed.) Gerd Dethlefs, Arent Pol, Stefan Wittenbrink, Osnabrück 2012, pp. 98–110

External links

Publications about the Otto Adelheid ''Pfennigs''
in the Opac of the ''Regesta Imperii''. {{Pfennig Pfennig Silver coins Coins of the Holy Roman Empire