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Solidus - Lothair I
| Issuer | Unified Carolingian Empire |
|---|---|
| Year | 817 |
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| Currency | Pound (751-843) |
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| Obverse description | Laureate and draped bust of Lothair I facing left, rendered in a late antique imperial tradition adapted for Carolingian coinage. The effigy displays a stylized profile portrait with visible drapery at the shoulder, enclosed within a beaded border characteristic of the series. A circular Latin legend surrounds the bust in the field, reading clockwise around the periphery of the flan. |
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| Obverse lettering | D II OTCIVS ✠ MPP IVI (Translation: Our lord Lothair, emperor august.) |
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| Additional information |
Lothair I was crowned co-emperor by his father Louis the Pious in 817 under the Ordinatio Imperii, an attempt to prevent the fratricidal divisions that had plagued earlier Frankish successions. This solidus belongs to that brief window of unified imperial ambition — before Louis's second marriage produced more sons and unraveled the arrangement entirely, culminating in open civil war among the brothers through the 830s and 840s.
Carolingian gold coinage of this period is exceptionally rare in any form. The Franks had effectively abandoned gold currency for silver under Charlemagne, making imperial gold solidi semi-ceremonial rather than commercial instruments.