bractea

Bractea is the Latin term for a thin plate or sheet of metal. In archaeology and numismatics, the word is used to describe both the thin sheet used as a planchet for coinage and the coins struck on such sheets. The English adjective bracteate derives from the same Latin root.

Bractea coins are typically hammered from an unusually thin metal sheet rather than from a standard, thicker planchet. This method yields very lightweight coins with designs often on one side and with edges that were frequently clipped, producing irregular rims. Bracteate coinage is especially associated with early medieval Europe, notably in the Nordic and Germanic regions, roughly from the 5th to the 9th centuries.

Designs on bractea coins vary but commonly depict religious symbols, figures, animals, or crosses, sometimes with inscriptions in runic or Latin characters. The thin sheets and occasional clipping make many examples rare or fragmentary, yet they provide important evidence for early monetary systems, iconography, and religious practices in northern Europe.

Bractea coinage is distinct from later coins struck on thicker planchets and from plated or cast coins. The study of bractea coins helps illuminate regional trade networks and political structures during the late antique to early medieval transition.

See also: Bracteate coin; Early medieval coinage.