The Friesacher penny from Carinthia is the first transregional trade coin minted in medieval Austria.

The economic conditions for the issuance of these high-quality silver coins, which were minted after the model of those from Cologne, were provided by the newly discovered silver mines, which were particularly rich around Friesach. Additionally, there was the highly astute policy of the coin issuers (primarily the Archbishops of Salzburg), who did not aim for quick profits from the minting rights, but rather sought to create general acceptance through central organisation and consistent product quality, ensuring long-term economic success.

At the height of its distribution in the early decades of the 13th century CE, the Friesacher penny circulated as trade money from Friuli, across the northern Adriatic, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Transylvania, and into Slovakia.

From the beginning, the centre of minting activity was the namesake town of Friesach (from around 1125/30 CE), which at that time was also the administrative centre for the rich holdings of the Archbishopric of Salzburg in Carinthia. The Friesacher mint reached its peak under Archbishop Eberhard II (1200–1246 CE), who found a congenial partner in Duke Bernhard II (1202–1256 CE). The Carinthian dukes had already been minting in St. Veit around 1130 CE, following the “Friesacher type.” Attracted by the great success of this coin, other clerical and secular lords followed suit: the Patriarchs of Aquileia, the Bishops of Bamberg in Villach, the Bishops of Gurk, and the Bavarian princes of the Andechs-Meran house. They minted coins based on the Friesacher model and even copied it entirely. As a result, an imperial court ruling from 1195 CE, instigated by Archbishop Adalbert II (1168–1171 CE), forbade any imitation of the Friesacher coin.

The silver mines in Carinthia were heavily exploited due to the high demand for minting metal, leading to the establishment of mints along trade routes on the southeastern border of the empire, where (often in cooperation between clerical and secular lords) pennies made from Hungarian silver were minted.

By the middle of the 13th century CE (Mongol invasion of 1241 CE), a significant decline in the minting of Friesacher pennies was noticeable, and as a result, they were gradually replaced by incoming foreign currencies (Agleier and Wiener pennies). Before the middle of the 13th century CE, the minting of the Friesacher penny is believed to have come to an end.