GERMANY. Hersfeld (Abtei). Rudhard, 1059-1072. Denar (Silver, 20 mm, 0.94 g). [RVTHAR]D[VS] Draped bust of Rudhard facing. Rev. [H]E[RISFEL]D Four towers connected by ramparts. Dannenberg 1658. Hess (1891) 453. Exceedingly rare and of great interest. Cleaned and slightly bend, otherwise, fine.


This intriguing coin type was first identified in the Lodeinoje Pole hoard. The specimen from this hoard was later sold as an Erfurt issue in the 1892 Hess auction. The cataloger attributed the type to Lupold, who served as Archbishop of Mainz from 1051 to 1059, and assigned it to the Erfurt mint (A. Hess: Medieval Coins, especially German, English, and Nordic Issues of the 10th–12th Centuries, Frankfurt am Main 1891, no. 453). However, as early as 1894, Dannenberg reassigned the type to Hersfeld in his seminal study (Die Deutschen Münzen der Sächsischen und Fränkischen Kaiserzeit, vol. 2, Berlin 1894, no. 1658), basing his argument on the obverse legend.

On the specimen sold by Hess, only the first two letters ‘RV’ were legible. From this, Dannenberg reconstructed the full inscription as ‘RVTHARDVS’, identifying Abbot Rudhard as the issuer. He further interpreted the reverse legend as ‘HERISFELD’.

On the obverse of our specimen, a clearly visible ‘D’ between 8 and 9 o’clock provides strong confirmation of Dannenberg’s reading of ‘[RVTHAR]D[VS]’. Beyond its numismatic rarity, this coin serves as a compelling illustration of the evolving nature of scholarly attribution.