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Denier - Pepin the Short
| Issuer | Unified Carolingian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 751-768 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Pound (751-843) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Reverse of this hammered Carolingian denier featuring a bold, monogram-style arrangement of letters in the open field, representing the royal title. The letters FR, denoting Rex Francorum (King of the Franks), are rendered in large, angular Carolingian majuscules that dominate the flan. A six-pointed star or stylized cross-like ornament appears to the right of the main letters, while pellets are scattered in the lower field, serving as decorative fillers consistent with Carolingian minting practice. The overall design is sparse and emblematic, devoid of a portrait, in keeping with the aniconic tradition of early Frankish royal coinage. The irregular flan edge and variable strike are characteristic of hand-hammered production of the mid-eighth century. |
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| Mintage | ND (751-768) |
| Additional information |
Pépin III's monetary reform — typically dated to around 755 — broke from Merovingian tradition by standardizing the denier as the primary silver unit and bringing minting under royal rather than episcopal or aristocratic control. It was one of the earliest systematic attempts at monetary centralization in post-Roman Western Europe, and it laid the administrative groundwork that Charlemagne would later expand into a empire-wide system.
The Prou reference gap is telling: these early Carolingian pieces remain poorly systematized in the major catalogues, and attribution between mints is frequently contested.