Exceptional Heinrich Pfennig

Sale: CNG 82, Lot: 1238. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 16 September 2009.  Sold For $4000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

GERMANY, Augsburg (königliche Münzstätte). Heinrich II. 1002-1024. AR Pfennig (1.19 g, 3h). R/X down left field, H/IИ/RI down right, crowned bust right / ΛVGVSTA • CIV • (pellet in Λ; S horizontala), small cross pattée; annulet in first quarter, triple pellets in second and third quarters, wedge in fourth quarter. Hahn Type 3, 145 (dies XII/73); cf. Kluge, Salier 87-9. Near EF, toned.

Ex Spink Taisei 31 (23 October 1991), lot 27.

Heinrich II, king of Germany from 1002 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1014, was the only German king to become a Catholic saint. He spent much of his reign putting down rebellions within the Empire and reinforcing the borders of his lands. On the urging of the Pope, Heinrich led a campaign in southern Italy to counter the growing influence of the Byzantine Empire, which had gained the allegiance of some Italian principalities. Although he was able to extract oaths of loyalty from several Italian dukes, Heinrich was not able to capture any Byzantine territory with his forces. The emperor was more successful, however, in his ecclesiastical reforms. He strongly supported the rights of bishops to reign over territories as temporal lords, in addition to their responsibility as spiritual leaders. In addition, he championed the policy of celibacy among the clergy in an attempt to prevent battles of succession among their heirs.