Charlemagne, Charles the Bald and the Karolus Monogram Coinage. A Multi-Disciplinary Study

Coins struck in the name of 'Charles' with a Karolus monogram could have been struck by several Carolingian rulers. The most likely are Charlemagne (768-814), Charles the Bald (840-77) and Charles the Simple (897-922). This article combines a survey of the latest numismatic research with new data on metal composition in order to determine the likeliest attribution on a mint by mint basis. 106 Karolus monogram coins were analysed along with many contemporary issues, including the entire collections of the Cabinet des Médailles of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) and the Monnaie de Paris (MdP). Particularly useful results have been obtained for the mints of the Palace, Bourges, Toulouse, Melle and Sens.