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Denier anonymous
| Issuer | Saint-Médard-de-Soissons, Abbey of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1000-1050 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 1.27 g |
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| Obverse description | Stylised effigy of Saint Medardus facing right in profile, rendered in the primitive Romanesque manner typical of early 11th-century abbatial coinage. The bust is depicted in low relief with schematic facial features, surrounded by a beaded inner circle. The circumferential legend, preceded by a cross, reads CAPAT SCI MEDARDI, identifying the image as the head of Saint Medardus. The flan is irregular and the strike uneven, consistent with hand-hammered production of the period. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Stylised ecclesiastical cross occupying the central field, with a ladder-like or stepped motif flanking the vertical shaft, evoking the instruments of the Passion or abbatial arms associated with Saint Sebastian. The design is enclosed within a beaded inner circle, with a fragmentary legend visible in the outer field, largely illegible due to the crude strike and worn flan. The overall composition is characteristic of anonymous abbatial deniers of northern France in the early Capetian period. |
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| Additional information |
The Abbey of Saint-Médard at Soissons held one of the most prestigious ecclesiastical minting privileges in the Capetian realm, rooted in royal grants that predated the year 1000. The monastery housed the relics of Saint Médard and served as a burial site for Carolingian royalty, which gave it both the political weight and the income stream to sustain independent coin production. Anonymous deniers of this type circulated primarily in the Soissonnais and were accepted across a broader region on the strength of the abbey's reputation rather than any royal guarantee.
The Boudeau 1900 variety designation signals a die difference from the principal type — minor enough to escape separate catalog status but worth noting for attribution purposes.