Museum objects
0 shown · 5 cited but not shown. An image only appears here if it is openly
licensed and confirmed to depict the object we claim. Otherwise we cite it and link you to
the museum — we would rather show you nothing than show you the wrong thing.
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2022 acquisition
Centre Charlemagne
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
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Fastrada Coin of Charlemagne
Centre Charlemagne · 2022 acquisition · 793-794 AD
A silver denier bearing the name of Fastrada, Charlemagne's third wife, acquired by the Centre Charlemagne in 2022.
A coin minted for a queen who died within the year — dated so precisely by her death that we know almost the exact week Isabelle's story begins.
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Temple type denier
Centre Charlemagne
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
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Charlemagne Portrait Denarius (Temple Type)
Centre Charlemagne · Temple type denier · c. 813-814 AD
An extremely rare silver coin showing Charlemagne in classical portrait style, only about 50 known to survive.
Charlemagne wanted to look like a Roman emperor on his own money — proof that even the most powerful man in Europe still needed a Roman stamp of legitimacy.
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catalogue ark:/12148/cb386395898
Bibliothèque nationale de France
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
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Carolingian Denier (Mainz Mint)
Bibliothèque nationale de France · catalogue ark:/12148/cb386395898 · 812-814 AD
A unique surviving silver denier from the Mainz mint, part of the Bibliothèque nationale de France's medieval coin collection.
One of a kind — literally the only one known to survive from its mint and date, a single silver witness to an entire monetary system.
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2008 archaeological find
Referenced via academic literature
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
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Aachen Penny of Charlemagne
Referenced via academic literature · 2008 archaeological find · c. 800-814 AD
A Carolingian penny found through archaeological excavation in 2008, part of the standardized reform coinage.
Dug out of the ground centuries later, still legible — Charlemagne's reform was built to last, and this coin is the proof.
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Monogram type
Various — referenced via Encyclopedia Britannica
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
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KAROLUS Monogram Denier
Various — referenced via Encyclopedia Britannica · Monogram type · c. 793-814 AD
A silver denier bearing Charlemagne's monogram, struck across France, Germany, Northern Italy, and Northeast Spain.
The same stamped symbol, accepted from Barcelona to the Rhine — this is the coin that first made 'French money' mean something across borders.
Primary sources
The documents themselves. We link and quote — that is citation, and it needs no licence.
A Coin of Queen Fastrada and Charlemagne
news_article · 2023 · Archaeology Wiki / Simon Coupland · Archaeology Wiki
Report on the discovery and dating of the rare Fastrada coin.
A news story about how researchers identified a coin naming Charlemagne's wife.
Capitulary of Aix-la-Chapelle on the Value of Commodities
legal_document · 797 AD · Charlemagne's court · Historical legal record
Royal decree fixing prices and establishing that 12 denarii equal 1 solidus.
An actual royal law from 797 AD that fixed prices and set the exchange rate between coin denominations.
Capitulary of Aix-la-Chapelle Concerning Adulterers of Money
legal_document · 817 AD · Louis the Pious's court · Historical legal record
Law imposing severe punishment — loss of a hand — for counterfeiters.
A brutal medieval law: counterfeit the currency, and you lose a hand.
Charlemagne and the Carolingian Coinages
encyclopedia_entry · Ongoing · Encyclopaedia Britannica · Encyclopaedia Britannica
Scholarly reference article on the structure and spread of Carolingian coin reform.
An encyclopedia article explaining how Charlemagne redesigned money across his whole empire.
Gallica Digitized Carolingian Coin Images
digital_archive · Ongoing · Bibliothèque nationale de France · Gallica (BnF)
High-resolution digitized images of Carolingian-era coins from the BnF collection.
A digital photo archive of ancient French coins, free to browse online.
Where this money travelled
Isabelle's franc began as Charlemagne's silver denier reform in Aachen and traveled through royal écus and gold louis d'or before becoming the modern French franc.
Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle)50.7753, 6.0839
Mainz Mint49.9929, 8.2473
Paris48.8566, 2.3522
Barcelona41.3851, 2.1734
Rome41.9028, 12.4964
Frankfurt (Modern Eurozone)50.1109, 8.6821
What we don't know
The page no competitor will build.
- 5 of 5 objects on this page are cited but not shown — either the rights are not cleared, or we could not verify that an available image really depicts the object. We would rather show you nothing than show you the wrong thing.
- 2 source(s) here are Wikipedia — a tertiary source. It is a pointer, not our evidence. These are being replaced with the primary documents Wikipedia itself cites.
