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Obol anonymous
| Issuer | Melgueil, County of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1100-1250 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field features a stylised cross formed by a fess intersecting two episcopal standards or mitres, the whole enclosed within a beaded inner circle, with a pellet at the centre. The motif is confined within a circular beaded border. A heavily degenerated and largely illegible Latin legend, derived from the name RAIMUNDUS (Raymond), runs around the periphery, the individual letters reduced to schematic strokes separated by pellets. |
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| Obverse lettering | IAI I IVI IOI (Translation: Raymond.) |
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| Additional information |
The deniers and obols of Melgueil were among the most widely circulated feudal coins in southern France and the western Mediterranean during the crusading period, accepted far beyond the county's borders as a trusted trading currency. Their ubiquity was a persistent irritant to the bishops of Maguelone, who held competing monetary rights in the region and spent much of the 12th century in legal conflict with the counts over striking authority.
The county passed to the papacy in 1085 as a feudal dependency, making these coins technically issued under papal suzerainty — an unusual arrangement that partly explains their broad acceptance across ecclesiastical networks.