Pépin III seized the Frankish throne in 751 with papal backing — Boniface of Mainz performed the anointing — after deposing the last Merovingian, Childeric III, who was tonsured and sent to a monastery. The coinage reform that followed broke decisively from Merovingian tradition, centralizing minting authority and standardizing the silver denier as the backbone of Carolingian exchange. Trier, with its deep Roman minting history, was one of the first workshops brought under this new order.
The Trier issues from Pépin's reign are among the earliest physical artifacts of that centralization program.
Pépin III seized the Frankish throne in 751 with papal backing — Boniface of Mainz performed the anointing — after deposing the last Merovingian, Childeric III, who was tonsured and sent to a monastery. The coinage reform that followed broke decisively from Merovingian tradition, centralizing minting authority and standardizing the silver denier as the backbone of Carolingian exchange. Trier, with its deep Roman minting history, was one of the first workshops brought under this new order.
The Trier issues from Pépin's reign are among the earliest physical artifacts of that centralization program.