fme_423861 - CHARLES Ier dit CHARLEMAGNE Plaquette uniface, Charlemagne

CHARLES I called CHARLEMAGNE

(768-812)

King

The type for Melle is the most common for the reign of Charlemagne. It will then be immobilized for that of Charles the Bald (840-870). The weight of coins poses the delicate problem of the pound used to mint. During the first part of his reign, Charlemagne used the old Roman pound of about 325 g. Then, from around 781, he would use a heavy Roman pound, i.e. 15 ounces of 406 g of weight in which one would cut 240 denarii or 20 sous with a theoretical weight of around 1.70 g. The second theory is that he uses a heavy book of 18 ounces or 489.505 g in which one would cut 22 pennies, or 264 pieces with a theoretical weight of 1.852 g. We prefer this second theory, defended in particular by E. Fournials.