Denier - Adalbero II

Adalbero II held the see of Basel from 999 until his death in 1025, a tenure during which the Ottonian emperors — first Otto III, then Henry II — actively cultivated episcopal mints as instruments of royal fiscal policy. Henry II in particular leaned heavily on loyal bishops to anchor monetary circulation in regions where lay authority was unstable, and Basel sat at a critical crossing point on the Rhine.

The grant of minting rights to Basel's bishops in this period was tied directly to the crown's broader strategy of binding the church to imperial administration — a policy that would eventually fuel the Investiture Controversy decades later.