(sold for $21.0)

1164, Archbishops of Salzburg, Eberhard I. Silver Friesach Pfennig Coin. R!

Denomination: Pfennig
Mint Period: 1147-1164
References: CNA I Ca5 var.
Mint Place: Friesach (Austria)
Condition: Crudely struck reverse, otherwise VF+
Diameter: 21mm
Material: Silver
Weight: 1.09gm

Obverse: Cross with four pellets in fields. All within double-border.

Reverse: Bust of bishop (barely visible).

Authenticity unconditionally guaraneed.

Friesach (Slovene: Breže) is a town in the district Sankt Veit an der Glan, Carinthia, Austria. It is known as the oldest town in Carinthia. Friesach was first mentioned in an 860 document when the land around the estate of Friesah was donated by Louis the German to Archbishop Adalwin of Salzburg. About 1076 Gebhard of Salzburg, a follower of Pope Gregory VII in the Investiture Controversy, had the fortress of Petersberg erected above the town in order to prevent Emperor Henry IV from crossing the Alps. Gebhard had fierce enemies in the ducal House of Sponheim, who after his deposition made several attempts to take possession of Friesach. The attacks by Duke Engelbert were finally rejected in 1124. In 1149 King Conrad III stayed at the castle on his way back from the Second Crusade, as well as Richard the Lionheart in 1192, one more time escaping from the guards of Duke Leopold V of Austria. The fortress remained an important power basis of the Salzburg Archbishops, once again strengthened by Leonhard von Keutschach from 1495. The settlement of Friesach received town privileges in 1215. During the Middle Ages, it was a principal market town and commercial centre due to an important trade route from Vienna to Venice that ran through the city. The town flourished when Archbishop Eberhard II of Regensberg (1200-1246) made it the second largest city in the Archdiocese of Salzburg and the most important town in Carinthia. At a time it even minted its own currency called the Frizatik. Upon the Mediatisation of Salzburg in 1803, Friesach fell to the Duchy of Carinthia.