Denier - Pepin II Melle mint

Pépin II of Aquitaine spent much of his reign in open defiance of the Carolingian crown, fighting his uncle Charles the Bald for control of the region in a conflict that dragged on with intermittent Frankish intervention through the 840s. The Melle mint was among the most productive silver-producing centers in the Frankish world, fed directly by the Poitou argentiferous deposits — control of it was, in practical terms, control of a revenue stream.

That Pépin could strike at Melle during 845–848 reflects moments when his grip on the Aquitainian heartland temporarily held against Carolingian pressure.