Pfennig or bracteate, 0.89 g, silver, from Halberstadt, around 1200
 

The bracteates had their origin in the goldsmith's art.
The technique of carving ornamental linear patterns on the obverse in high relief and on the reverse in low relief into sheet gold, silver and copper was also applied in minting. In this way the flat coins made of sheet silver minted on one side came into being and were later referred to as bracteates (bractea = a thin sheet of metal) or cup-shaped coins.

Pfennig
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  Bracteates are the oddest and most interesting phenomenon in minting in the German Middle Ages. Nominally bracteates were silver pfennigs. In the 12th and 13th centuries bracteates were used by the population as coins for everyday use on the local markets. This coin was minted by Bishop Gero von Schermke.