Two New Issuers: Danish Estonia and the Bishopric of Riga

Hello!

When it comes to coins from medieval Livonia/Estonia, I believe the two places in the title are the last two places missing from the catalogue, so this will (probably) be my last mention of new issuers to add.


Danish Estonia:
I have a request pending under Reval (https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces139636.html), and while the coin in question was minted in Reval, the sources I have found say it was used throughout Danish Estonia. That place existed from 1219 to 1346; it was eventually sold to the Teutonic Order, and later became part of the Livonian Order/Livonian Confederation. Foreign coins (like the ones from Gotland and Lübeck) were more popular than the locally-minted ones, but still, Danish Estonia minted a couple coins. And when I say a couple, I mean I have only found pictures of two different brakteats. I have yet to create a page for the second type.

Danish Estonia also went by the Duchy of Estonia; however, I would say to avoid using that name. Swedish Estonia (which existed from 1561 to 1721 and used Swedish coins as their main currency) also went by the Duchy of Estonia, even though the two places existed over one hundred years apart and were ruled by different countries. Using "Danish" rather than "Duchy" could avoid any potential confusion between these two places.

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As for the Bishopric of Riga, I am not one hundred percent certain if that should be a new issuer. That was a place that existed from 1186 to 1255; it was upgraded to the Archbishopric of Riga in 1255, which is already an issuer. As far as I can find, the Bishopric of Riga has only issued one type of brakteat, which is this one: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces139635.html. Its request is currently pending under the Archbishopric of Riga, but I am not sure if an Archbishopric and a Bishopric are different enough to count as separate issuers. Either the two should be separate, or one should just be a currency of the other.

And... that is it. Thanks for reading!

Well, maybe one more place...

When looking at coins minted for the Archbishopric of Riga and coins minted for the Livonian Order (at the Riga mint), sometimes... things are not that clear. Both places issued their own coins, and with the same city's name being mentioned on coins from both places, the legend is what tends to indicated which coin was minted for which place. For coins from the Livonian Order, the Latin abbreviations will usually translate to something along the lines of "[Name], Master of Livonia"; for coins from the Archbishopric of Riga, the abbreviated will usually translate to something mentioning "Archbishopric".

So what about this coin: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces138665.html?

That coin is sitting under the Archbishopric of Riga, and while one side mentions the Archbishop Wilhelm, the other mentions Heinrich von Galen, the Master of Livonia. Apparently, along with issuing independent coins, the Archbishopric of Riga and the Livonian Order issued joint coinages.

Here is one listed under the Livonian Order; same situation/leaders as above, only in reverse: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces138660.html

And here is the only other joint coinage listed on Numista: https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces133331.html

Of course, there were more than just three joint-coins issued, but something should be done with them. If a new issuer is created for this, than that will solve what to do. If not, then it should be decided if these coins belong under the Archbishopric of Riga or under the Livonian Order.

(And here is a link that mentions joint coinage (seventh paragraph): http://www.oocities.org/eisters/archriga/archriga.html)

Ok for Danish Estonia, that makes sense.

For the bishopric of Riga, I would leave it together. I have done the same with Olomouc bishopric/archbishopric. And after all, we do not divide many countries when they changed their political status. For example Bohemia which fluctuated twice between duchy and kingdom untill it became established as kingdom.

For the last one, answer is Terra Mariana https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Mariana

Entities within ained their coinage, but from the examples you gave, it seema that they had some sense of partial unity after all. Still, I would just found eho issued it (where do numismatic catalogues and experts place those), and left them there. They can have it mentioned in the comments in some good way.

Bishopric of Riga[i]:[/i]
Sounds good to me! I do think this should stay as a separate currency though. The first coin from the Archbishopric of Riga was minted during the reign of Ambundi, which started in 1418. That was also after a currency reformation. The coins of the Bishopric of Riga, minted over one hundred years earlier, was just in brakteats.

Joint Coinage:
Using auction sites as a reference, Haljak (one with many Livonian coins) lists the joint coinage separate from the Archbishorpic/Order. On the other hand, Künker, Emporium Hamburg, WAG, and Warszawskie all list those coins as being under the Livonian Order. So the Livonian Order it is!

A request is pending for the one under the Archbishopric to be moved, but now I am wondering: is joint coinage a reason for a new currency to be created (something mentioning the joint coinage)? I would think not because the values of the denominations should be constant with the two places, but I would just like to make sure.

No, I guess there is no reason for new currency. You can also make a name like this:

1 Mark - Bishop's name/Secular lord's name

This should clear it up.

Alright, the requests have been sent to add dual-names.