Denier - Charlemagne Tournai mint

Tournai was among the oldest continuously operating mints in the Carolingian system, its activity traceable to Merovingian predecessors. This issue falls within the pre-reform phase of Charlemagne's reign, before the monetary overhaul of circa 793–794 that raised the silver penny's weight standard to roughly 1.7 grams and restructured the entire Frankish minting apparatus. That reform, driven partly by improved access to silver and partly by the need to unify exchange across a rapidly expanding empire, rendered these lighter deniers obsolete almost immediately — which partly explains why survivors in any condition are uncommon.