Pomeranian Ducal Denar

The most striking thing about the Pomeranian Ducal Denar is its frequent use of the griffin motif, a beast borrowed from local legends to assert the duchy's authority on a humble silver coin.

These denars, minted in Pomerania between the 12th and 13th centuries, were typically silver pieces weighing around 1 gram. They featured crude inscriptions naming dukes like Bogislaw or Wartislaw, though not every strike was legible. Some show crosses or pellets, likely for alignment during striking.

We don't know exact mintage figures; records from that era are scarce. What survives suggests production occurred in places like Gdańsk or Szczecin, using local silver sources.

Historians argue these coins helped standardize trade in a fragmented region. But let's not pretend every denar tells a grand tale; most were just currency for buying fish or paying taxes.

One oddity: the occasional off-center strike, which might make you wonder if the minters were as imprecise as my old eyes after decades of sorting them.