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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 
411, Lot: 508. Estimate $300.
Sold for $180. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CAROLINGIANS. Charles le Chauve (the Bald). As Charles II, King of West Francia, 840-877. AR Denier (20mm, 1.38 g, 3h). Class 2. Palatina Mone(ta) (Palace) mint. Struck 864-877 and later. + CRΛTIΛ D–I RE+, Karolus monogram / + PΛLΛTINΛ ИOME, cross pattée. Coupland, Early –; Depeyrot 750; M&G 634/635 (obv./rev.); MEC 1, –. Good VF, iridescent toning, minor flan chip. Rare variety.


From the Simon Coupland Collection, purchased from ebaY France, January 2013.

Although it is evident that coins reading PALATINA MONETA and variants were struck in a royal palace, it is unclear which, or how many, of Charles’s palaces were involved. The distribution of finds from Charles’s reign suggests that the mint was situated north of the Seine, perhaps in Picardy. Several of the King’s favoured palaces were located in this region, including those at Compiègne and Quierzy (both of which are known to have housed mints), Roucy and Samoussy. However, the existing evidence does not currently permit a more specific identification of the Palace mint. A parallel to this coin with its unusual legend, PALATINANOME, instead on MONE, was found in the Chalo Saint Mars hoard from the early 880s, indicating that despite its low weight it should be ascribed to Charles the Bald, not Charles the Simple. [S. Coupland]