Otto III-Adelheid penny
Type:
Coins
Date:
991 to 999
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Germany
Medium:
Silver
Dimensions:
1.7 to 1.9 cm
Description:
This silver penny of Otto III (980–1002) was minted in Goslar (Saxony) between 991 and 999, while Otto's grandmother Adelheid served as regent to the young ruler after his mother's death in 991 (Otto's parents were depicted on an ivory plaque a few years earlier).
Earlier coins of Frankish rulers, starting with Charlemagne, had sometimes featured a classical-looking temple on the reverse, but the miniature building shown here is a contemporary wooden or stave church, which was still the norm in Germanic lands. Surrounding it, although very worn on this example, letters in relief spell the regent's name, ATEAHLHT. On the front, the letters ODDO (Otto) fill the spaces around the central cross. Around the circumference is the Latin abbreviation DI GRA REX (King by the grace of God), a phrase that first appeared on Carolingian coins.
Goslar was the principal mint at the time because silver had been discovered in the nearby Harz Mountains in the 960s. Large-scale minting began under Otto III and continued until the mid-twelfth century. Silver was also exported; the English mints also made their coins from German silver. The Otto-Adelheid coins, with their distinctive raised edge, continued to be produced long after those rulers were dead. They have been found in huge numbers across Scandinavia and eastern Europe, attesting to local and long-distance trade and to the legacy of a powerful woman (co-)ruler. Adelheid was canonized in 1097.
Earlier coins of Frankish rulers, starting with Charlemagne, had sometimes featured a classical-looking temple on the reverse, but the miniature building shown here is a contemporary wooden or stave church, which was still the norm in Germanic lands. Surrounding it, although very worn on this example, letters in relief spell the regent's name, ATEAHLHT. On the front, the letters ODDO (Otto) fill the spaces around the central cross. Around the circumference is the Latin abbreviation DI GRA REX (King by the grace of God), a phrase that first appeared on Carolingian coins.
Goslar was the principal mint at the time because silver had been discovered in the nearby Harz Mountains in the 960s. Large-scale minting began under Otto III and continued until the mid-twelfth century. Silver was also exported; the English mints also made their coins from German silver. The Otto-Adelheid coins, with their distinctive raised edge, continued to be produced long after those rulers were dead. They have been found in huge numbers across Scandinavia and eastern Europe, attesting to local and long-distance trade and to the legacy of a powerful woman (co-)ruler. Adelheid was canonized in 1097.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
6
Repository and Online Resources:
• https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1906-1103-5486
Image Credits:
© The Trustees of the British Museum
