Denier - Charlemagne Chartres mint, crossed S

Chartres was among the earliest mints activated under Charlemagne following his sole rule of the Frankish kingdom after the death of his brother Carloman in 771 — though some scholarship dates production to the co-regency period beginning 768. The crossed S mintmark distinguishes this emission from related Chartres types and links it to a specific die-cutting practice documented by Prou and later refined by Morrison's corpus work.

At roughly 1.1g, these early deniers predate the Carolingian monetary reform of 793–794 that standardized the heavier pound-based system. Survivors from this transitional window are thin, easily bent, and rarely surface without at least some flan irregularity.