The abbey of Saint-Martin de Tours held one of the most politically charged minting privileges in the Carolingian world. When the central authority of the West Frankish kings collapsed following the death of Charles the Fat in 888, monasteries with pre-existing royal minting grants effectively became autonomous monetary actors. Saint-Martin's right to strike coin at Chinon derived from earlier royal concessions, and the interregnum years between Odo and Charles the Simple saw that privilege exercised with little oversight from any crown.
Chinon itself was a secondary mint site for the abbey, distinct from the principal Tours operation catalogued separately in Gariel.
The abbey of Saint-Martin de Tours held one of the most politically charged minting privileges in the Carolingian world. When the central authority of the West Frankish kings collapsed following the death of Charles the Fat in 888, monasteries with pre-existing royal minting grants effectively became autonomous monetary actors. Saint-Martin's right to strike coin at Chinon derived from earlier royal concessions, and the interregnum years between Odo and Charles the Simple saw that privilege exercised with little oversight from any crown.
Chinon itself was a secondary mint site for the abbey, distinct from the principal Tours operation catalogued separately in Gariel.