This issue derives directly from the Edict of Pîtres, issued by Charles the Bald in June 864 — one of the most ambitious monetary reforms of the Carolingian period. The edict closed all but a handful of authorized mints and mandated a new, heavier denarius standard, effectively consolidating royal control over silver coinage that had drifted into semi-autonomous production across the realm. Meaux was among the select mints permitted to continue striking under the new regime.
The reform was partly a fiscal response to Viking tribute payments, which had drained Frankish silver reserves and incentivized debasement at peripheral mints.
This issue derives directly from the Edict of Pîtres, issued by Charles the Bald in June 864 — one of the most ambitious monetary reforms of the Carolingian period. The edict closed all but a handful of authorized mints and mandated a new, heavier denarius standard, effectively consolidating royal control over silver coinage that had drifted into semi-autonomous production across the realm. Meaux was among the select mints permitted to continue striking under the new regime.
The reform was partly a fiscal response to Viking tribute payments, which had drained Frankish silver reserves and incentivized debasement at peripheral mints.