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Denier - Theoderic I with emperor Otto I or Otto II
| Issuer | Bishopric of Metz |
|---|---|
| Year | 964-984 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A short cross pattée dominates the central field, enclosed within a beaded inner circle; the four letters O, T, T, O are distributed one in each angle of the cross, referencing the Ottonian emperor. A small pellet or annulet appears at the center of the cross. The whole is surrounded by a circular Latin legend within a beaded outer border, giving the imperial title. |
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| Additional information |
Metz occupied a strategically fraught position in the late tenth century — caught between the newly consolidated Ottonian empire and the fragmenting remnants of Carolingian authority in the west. Bishop Theoderic I received coinage rights through imperial grant, and this denier reflects precisely that political arrangement: a prelate issuing silver under the shadow of Otto I or Otto II's authority, the ambiguity of attribution itself a product of how continuous and deliberate that Ottonian patronage was across both reigns.
The Bishopric of Metz was among the earlier ecclesiastical mints in the Lotharingian sphere to consolidate its coinage under a recognizably Ottonian formula — a model that would define episcopal minting across the region for generations.