Denier - Otto III and Adelaide temple, DI GRA REX AMEN

Otto III inherited the imperial throne at age three following his father's sudden death in 983, with his mother Theophanu — a Byzantine princess — and later his grandmother Adelaide serving as regents. This coin belongs to that regency period, a constitutional oddity in which real power shifted between two formidable women while the nominal king was a child. The REX AMEN formula on this type is unusual and has generated scholarly debate; it appears on no other Ottonian royal coinage and may reflect the influence of Theophanu's Greek ecclesiastical background on chancery practice.

Adelaide outlived Theophanu by nearly a decade and continued issuing coins in Otto's name until he came of age around 994–995.