The coinage of Lothar I (840-855) / Simon Coupland

8/9/2019 The coinage of Lothar I (840-855) / Simon Coupland

1/53

The Numismatic

Chronicle

VOLUME 161

LONDON

THE ROYAL

NUMISMATIC

SOCIETY

2 1

This content downloaded from 83.85.130.64 on Mon, 30 Jun 2014 04:58:57 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions


2/53

/ ;-=09 )(8*

=-0/ ]

This content downloaded from 83.85.130.64 on Mon, 30 Jun 2014 04:58:57 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions


3/53

The

Coinage

of

Lothar

I

(840-855)

SIMON

COUPLAND

[PLATES 35-39]

INTRODUCTION

A number of articles avebeen

writtenbout he

oinage

ftheWest rankish

king

Charles

he

Bald,1

yet

untilnow no

specific

tudy

f his brother othar's

coinage

has beenundertaken.

t has of course een ncluded

n

general

works n

Carolingian

oinage,

utwhen ne

of thebestrecent

urveys,

hefirst olume f

Medieval

uropeanCoinage

deals

with othar's

oinage

n

under wo

pages,

we

can see how

necessary

he

present

tudy

s.2The article

will

begin

with brief

summary

fLothar's

eign

nd consideration

fthe

nusual

olitical eography

of the

erritory

ver

whichhe ruled. t

will

go

on to

address wo

mportant

en-

eral

issues,

namely

what

coinage

Lothar

might

ave minted efore

40,

and

whetherhe rder fmintingfthe ypes roduced uring isreign an be estab-

lished. he various

mintswillthen e discussed

n

turn,

efore detailed onsid-

eration f the

anonymous

hristiana

eligio

ssues.

Following

he

pattern

aid

down

n

earlier

rticles n Louis

the

Pious,

Charles he

Bald and

Pippin

I,3

the

present

tudy

ill

not

nly ry

o

dentifytylisticroups

n

this

oinage,

ut

lso,

where

ossible,

eek o attribute

hose

roups

o

particular

ints.

t willconclude

with

summary

fwhat ll these

etails eveal

bout he

conomy

nder othar.4

One caveat

may

seem

obviousbut

s nonetheless

ecessary:

uch a

study

s

this an

only

be

provisional.

ince the

Second

World

War,

he

Pilligerheck

nd

Roermond oards

ave revolutionised

ur

knowledge

f

Lothar's

oinage,5

nd

thediscoveryf newhoards, articularlyn taly, ouldwell do the ameagain.

To

give

one

example,

he

second

Tzummarum

oardwith ts

more han

,600

coins from

orestad hould

provide

mportant

ew

nsights

nto hat

articular

1

As isted

n

my

wn rticle:.

Coupland,

The

arlyoinage

f

harles

he

ald,

40-864',

C

151

1991),

p.

21-58,

t

p.

121,

n. and .

2

Philip

rierson

ndMark

lackburn,

edieval

uropean

oinage

MEC]

Cambridge,

986-

,

vol.

,

p.

23-4.

3

S.

Coupland,

Money

nd

oinage

nder

ouis he

ious',

rancia

7/1

1990),

p.

3-54;

Coupland,Early

oinage

fCharles

he

ald';

.

Coupland,

The

oinages

f

Pippin

and

I of

Aquitaine',

N

989,p.

94-222.

4The rticleill ot onsiderhe apal oinagessuedy otharE.Gariel,esmonnaiesoyales

deFranceous

a race

arolingienne

2

vols,

trasbourg,

883-4]

X.31-9;

EC

.1039-45)

r

he

uniqueold

medallion

truck

n

Lothar's

ame

K.F.

Morrison

nd

H. Grunthal

MG],

arolingian

Coinage

New

ork,

967],93),

ince

either

as ntended

or

eneral

irculation.

5

References

o ll he

oardsited

n he ext

an efound

n he

oardist.

This content downloaded from 83.85.130.64 on Fri, 27 Jun 2014 19:02:11 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions


4/53

158

S. COUPLAND

coinage, ut esearchs stillnprogress.heres a temptationo waituntil ll the

i's can be dotted nd the s

crossed,

ut henwe

wouldwaitforever.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Lotharwas born

.795,

the ldest on of Louis thePious. Louis was

subking

f

Aquitaine

t the

ime,

utwent n to become ole ruler f thevast

Carolingian

empire

n

thedeath

f

Charlemagne

n 814.

Following

he

pattern

stablished

y

his

father,

n

817 Louis thePious

gave

an area of the

mpire

o each of his sons

to rule ver. otharwas named s sole successor o the

mpire,

ut

n

the

mean-

time ecame o-emperorith isfather,ith versight,nder ouis,of he ntire

realm

xceptAquitaine

nd

Bavaria,

he

territoriesf

his

brothers

ippin

nd

Louis

'theGerman')

espectively.

n

822 Lotharwas

given

more

pecific espon-

sibility

or

taly,

wherehe

was crowned

mperor

n Easter

Day

the

following

year.

There

was, however,

fly

n the

ointment.

n

the ame

year

hat othar

was

crowned n

Rome,

Louis's secondwife

gave

birth

o another

on,Charles,

who

like

Joseph

f

old,

became

his

father's avourite.

n

829

the

mperor

ecided o

change

hedivision f the

mpire

o

nclude hisnew addition o the

family,

nd

Lothar

and

to a

greater

r lesser

xtent,

is

brothers)

as resentful.n

initial

burst f

anger

n

830 was subdued

y

Louis

withoutoo much

ifficulty,

ut he

powder

keg

finally

lew

in

833. The

magnates

urned

gainst

ouis,

who

was

deposed

nd

mprisoned,

nd Lothar ook

on themantle f

emperor

nd

began

issuing

harters

n

his own

name.Whether

e also issued

coinage

s

a

question

thatwill

be addressed elow.

The revoltwas

quashed year

aterwhen he

nobles

switched heir

llegiance

ack to Louis the

Pious,

nd Lothar

was

again

packed

off

o

taly,

where e

remained

n

brooding

iscontentntil is

father's eath n

June

40.

At onceLothar

aw hischance.

upportedy

his

nephew ippin

,

who

wanted

his atefather's quitanian ingdom,ndmanymembers fthenobility,othar

tried

o seize the

whole

mpire

or

imself.

n

this e

was

opposed y

hisbrothers

Louis and

Charles,

who

also had their

upporters

mong

he

magnates.

ivil war

raged,

with

decisive

victory

alling

o

Lothar's

pponents

t

Fontenoy

n

June

841. As

a

result,

othar ad to

abandon is claim o

the ntire

mpire,

nd

n

843

thebrothers

ivided he

erritory

etween

hem,

with

othar

eceiving

central

belt

which s

consequently

nown s

the

Middle

Kingdom.

t

stretchedrom

Frisia

n

the

north,6

hrough

heFranks'

istoric

eartlandround

achen,

own

to thewest f

the aône

andthe

Rhône,

aking

n

Provence nd

taly

n

the outh

(see

mapp.

169).

Lothar

uled his

reauntil isdeath n

855,

when twas

divided

between is two ons,LotharI receivinghenorthernart,ndLouis I becom-

ingemperor

f

taly.

6

In

Carolingian

erms

risia

ncorporated

he

wholef he

modern

etherlands,

ight

owno

Flanders,

ot

imply

he

modern

rovinces

f

riesland.



5/53

THE

COINAGEOF

LOTHAR

(840-855)

159

LOTHAR'S TERRITORY

Before

iscussing

he

oinage,

ne

subject

whichmust e mentioneds thenature

of the

erritory

verwhich othar

uled,

nd

particularly

hefact hat heMiddle

Kingdom

ncluded

otably

iverse nd

autonomous

egions.

n

the south here

was

Italy,

whichwas

very

much

political

ntity

n

its own

right.

his

had of

coursebeen

recognised

n

822-3

whenLotharhad been made ruler nd then

emperor

f

taly.

s we shall ee

below,

heres a

frustrating

bsence

fevidence

from othar's

eign

bout hecirculation

f

coinage

n

the

outh,

uteven the

limitedwitness f the talian

oinages uggests

hat he

pattern

f

minting

here

wasdifferentrom hat

n thenorth.

urthermore,

f we

compare

henumber

f

finds f talian

oinageduring

othar's

eign

with henumber

uring

he

eign

f

Louis the

ious,

t

ppears

hat ither

he talianmints

erenow

onsiderably

ess

prolific

han

arlier

n

the

entury,

r,

more

ikely,

hat he

urrency

as circulat-

ing

within

more imited rea.7

In thefarnorth

f Lothar's

erritory

ay

Frisia,

nother

egion

which eems

o

have been

ploughing

ts own

furrow,

lbeit

n a different

ay.

This

might

ave

been

due to

the rea's

geographic

solätion,

n

independentpirit

n the

part

f

its

nhabitants,

he

presence

f

Scandinavian

arlords,

ome

of whom uled ver

sizeabletracts

f

Frisia,

sually

with

oyal

onsent

uring

othar's

eign,8

r a

combinationf all these actors.Whateverhereason, henumismaticvidence

reveals

n

idiosyncratic

rea,

n which

gold pieces

were

being

minted nd

pre-

sumably

sed as

currency,9

nd

in which

gold

and silver

bjects

werehoarded

alongside

oinage,10

either

f

which eaturesre

paralleled

n other

arts

f the

Frankish

mpire.

n

addition,

othar's

northern

erritory

s

the

only

rea

of the

Frankish

ealms

fromwhich

Arabic dirhems

re

known

n

the

ninth

entury,

although

hefinds re

too few

o ndicate

hat

hey

were

ctually

n circulation.11

7

Thathissthemore

ikelyxplanation

or

he

eriod

n

uestion

s

suggested

y comparison

withheWest

rankish

ingdom:

eeD.M.

Metcalf,

A sketchf

he

urrency

n he inie

f

Charles

the

ald'

nM.

Gibson

ndJ.L.

Nelson

eds),

harles

he ald:Court

nd

Kingdom,

nd dn

(Aldershot,990),p. 5-97; oupland,EarlyoinagefCharleshe ald', .154.8

S.

Coupland,

From

oachers

o

gamekeepers:

candinavian

arlordsnd

arolingianings',

Early

edieval

urope

.1

1998),

p.

0-7.

9

SeeJ.W.

oersma,

Een mitatie-solidus

an et

ype

unusivinum

it e

omgeving

an en

Post

Gr.)

n

sortgelijke

n Noord

ederland

evonden

xemplaren',

roninger

udheden

3

(1976-7),

p.

61-82,

hich

pdates

hilip

rierson,

The

old

olidusf

Louis he ious

nd ts

imitations',

MP

8

1951),

p.

-41. n he

ontinent,

he

reat

ajority

f

he nown

indsre

from

risia,

ithhree

ublished

indsrom

ther

arts

f othar's

erritory,

nd

ust

wo

romlse-

where,

he

endée

n rance.

10

Carolingian

oinhoards

hich

lsocontained

on-numismatic

aterial

re

Emmen,

de,

Marsům,

idiaren,

idlum,

üidbarge,ijs

ndWesterklief

andI n

risia,

nd utside

risia

nly

Féchain,

olliens-Vidame,

uizennd

oermond

of

which

uizennd

oermond

erelso

with-

in

othar's

erritory,

hileéchaiñ

ay

n he

order).

11Ninth-centuryrabirhemsave eenoundtDomburgtwo-three),ndn he oardsrom

Muizen

one),

uidbarge

two)

ndWesterklief

I

96

62

fragments),

swell

s everal

npublished

finds

romhe etherlands

ecorded

n he

PK. hese

re

otisted

n

Jean

uplessy,

La circula-

tion es

monnaies

rabesn

urope

ccidentale

u

VHIe u

XMe

iècle',

N

956,

p.

01-63.

or

the

tray

inds

rom

omburg,

eeM.G.A.

e

Man,

Que

ait-on

e

a

plage

e

Dombourg?',

MP

(1899),

p.

-61,

53-73,

t

pp.

06,

07,

.

2.



6/53

160 S. COUPLAND

Oneofthe emarkablehingsbout risia s that lthoughhe argenumber f

hoards

rom he

egion

uggest

onsiderable

ealth,

hiswealthwas not eflectedn

the

presence

f a

large

number f

towns,

rading

ettlements,

bbeys

r

monas-

teries uch as we would

expect

elsewhere

n

the Frankish

ingdoms.12

he

notable

xception

s the

mportantort

t

Dorestad,

bout

whichwe

shallhave

more o

say,

ut

presumably

hewealth f this

egion

was related o

ndependent

trade,

which

wouldhavebeen ess

closely

ontrolled

y

themonarchhan

might

have

been

the ase in

the

Frankish

eartland.

Part fthis eartland

ay

between he wo xtremesf

taly

nd

Frisia,

he en-

tral oreof theMiddle

Kingdom.

erewere

ituated

he

politically

ndeconom-

ically ignificantowns fCologne,Metz,Trier ndVerdun,s well as the alace

at

Aachen,

with ts

piritual

nd acral ole.As we

would

xpect,

ll of heseminted

coinage

for

othar,

lthough,

s we shall

ee,

not ll in

great

umbers.

LOTHAR'S PORTRAIT

COINAGE AND

THE

REVOLT OF 833

I

have

discussed othar's

portraitoinage

elsewhere,

hough

s will

be

seen,

have been forced o

reconsider

my

conclusions

n

the

light

of

more recent

research.13

know f

twenty-nine

ecorded

pecimens,

hich an

be divided nto

five tylisticroups.Ofthese, our antentativelye attributed,o thePalace,

Metz,

Milanand

Pavia.

Group

PL

35,

1-3)

is much

he

argest,epresentedy

eighteen

f

heknown

coins.The

majority

earthe

itle LOTARIVSIMPAVG

or

the ike:

Pl.

35, 1-2),

while

fewread

+LOHARIV2RE+AGV2TV2

PL 35,

3).

The

group

an

be attrib-

uted o thePalace

mint,

lmost

ertainly

ased

at

Aachen,

artly

n thebasis of

the

nusual

HA

igature

n

the bverse

egend

utmore

articularly

ecause f he

form

f the

emple

n the

reverse.14ll three

oins

bearing

herex

ugustus

itle

were

truck rom

he ame

obverse nd reverse

ies;

among

he

oins with

he

imperial

itle

here re two

pairs

truck

rom he ame

obverse nd

reverse ies

andanotherbverse iepair.

Group

(Pl.

35, 4)

consists f

ust

four

nown

pecimens,

ne of

them

rare

12

.P.

lok,

De

Wikingen

n

rieslanď,

aamkunde

0

1978),

p.

5-47,

t

p.

32.

13

Coupland,

Louis

he

ious',

p.

5-8.

14

MPAVG

fifteen

oins):

hree

n

he

illigerheck

oard

two

llustrated

n

Kress

.viii.l967,

302-3)

nd

hree

n

he

oermond

oard;

stray

indrom

intrange

R.

Weiller,

a

Circulation

monétairet es

trouvailles

umismatiques

u

Moyen

ge

t

des

temps

odernesu

pays

e

Luxembourg

vol.

[Louvain,

989],

.

223 nd

l.

XXmi)

nd wo

rom

aastricht

C.M.

Haertle,

Karolingischeünzfunde

usdem

Jahrhundert

2

vols,

ologne,

eimarnd

ienna,

997]

57,

which

was ble

o xamine

t he

PK;

.O. an

er

hijs,e muntenerrankische-nduitsch-nederlandscheorstenHaarlem,866],IV.2);ne nBrussels0.88 , nlesshiss heoinn an

der

hijs?);

ne n

Paris

BN

1049 Gariel

EX.3);

hreen

Berlin

one

Gariel

IX.6)

nd

Feuardent

6.iv.1926

Bordeaux

ale),

78

=

Rollin

Feuardent

.vi.l910

Du

Lac

sale],

56).

RE+AGV2TV2

three

oins):

ne

rom

illigerheck,

ne rom

uizen

mounted)

nd ordeaux

ale

377

=

Rollin

Feuardent

4. i.

895,

00).



7/53

THE COINAGEOF LOTHAR

(840-855)

161

obole, ndbears he bverse itleHLOTHARIVSAGS.15hegroups characterised

by

the mallhead of

the

bust,

esting

n a

long

neck,

nd on thereverse

y

the

inclusion f ball

nthe nner

ngle

fthe

emple

oof.

he source f his

oinage

may

have

been

Milan,

ince Christiana

eligio

ssue of

Louis thePious attrib-

utable

o thatmint

BN

996)

also

has this nusual eature

n the everse.16

Group

(PL

35,

5)

is

represented

y

five

oins,

nd

ike the

previous

roup,

the

bverse

egend

ives

Lothar

n abbreviated

orm fthe itle

ugustus

in

this

case

HLOTHARIVSACr

HLOTHARIVSACVS).17

he

eye

on thebust

s

particularly

prominent,

s is the aurel

wreath,

hich ooks ike a

modern weat-band.

he

style

f the

temple

s reminiscent

f Lothar's

Metz

coinage,

ven

though

he

obverse

egend

s different.owever,f tentativettributiono Metzofa

group

of Lothar's

non-portrait

oinage

bearing

he

title

ugustus

s correct

Group

below),

the atter ear

a similar

orm f

Lothar's

name,

HLOTHAPlVSACV[S].

Another

istinctiveeature

fthe

Group portrait

oins s

that he

egend,

which

begins

t the

op

of

the

oin,

s

interrupted

y

the

bust,

whereas

n

Group

the

legend

ontinues

ight

ound

hebust. t

s this atter

eature hich

as

mademe

reconsider

y

arlier

pinion

nd

assign

singleportrait

oin of

Lothar,

revi-

ously

ncluded

n

Group

,

to

yet

nother

roup,

roup

(PL

35,

6).18

t bears

he

title

HLOTHARIVSAGVS,

ut

with he

nscription

ontinuingight

he

way

round

the oin.Thissingle pecimenannot e linkedwith nyparticular int.

The

final

roup,

Group

(PL 35,

7),

is also

represented

y

a

single

oin,

BN

1050,

and can

tentatively

e attributed

o

Pavia on

thebasis

of the

arge

etters

and unusual

H

igature

n the bverse

egend,

HLOTHARIVSIMPAV.

I have

argued

reviously

hat

number f

factors

uggest

hat his

oinage

was

struck

omark

othar's oronation

s

emperor

f

taly

n

823.

9

1

cited

s

themost

persuasive

iece

of evidence

heuse of

two

different

itles

n the

Group

coins,

rex

ugustus

nd

mperator

ugustus.My

examination

f

Lothar's

harters

ug-

gested

hat othar

ad used

the itle

ugustus

efore

23,

and outside

taly

fter

that ate until 40),while hetitlemperator as employedwithintalyfrom

Easter823.

This would

ndicate

likely

ccasion

for he

coins'

production

s

Lothar's

nthronement

n

Italy

n 823.

However,

n

exhaustive

tudy

f the

occurrence

f Lothar's

itles

y

Elina Screen

has since

demonstrated

hat

othar

15

One

was

oundt

illigerheck

Kölner

ünzkabinett

ale

1,

.iv.l986,

74)

nd ne

n he

on

hoard;

lsoG.

Castellani,

atalogo

ella

accolta

umismatica

apadop

li-

ldobrandini

Venice,

1925),

os.

48 nd 53

obole).

16

ee

Coupland,

Louis

he ious

p.

43

Group

).

17

One

omwas

resent

he

risianoard

l 1853

not

wo,

s

stated

n

my

arner

rticle:

ee

the extroup)ndsnownBrussels=

MG 68

Gariel

IX.2);

t hares

he

ame

bverse

ie

s

twotheroins:nenBerlinPL35, )and osenberg1.xi.1904,0 =GarielIX.7 Rollin

Feuardent,

4.vi.1902

Meyer

ale],

65);

he

atter

air

erelso truck

rom

he ame

everse

ie.

Other

pecimens

re

N1048

mounted),

nd

russels

Gariel

IX.l.

18

Another

oin

rom

he 853

risian

oard,

ow

mBrussels

MG

62

Gariel

IX.5).

19

Coupland,

Louis he

ious',

p.

5-7,

ontra

EC

,

p.

223.



8/53

162

S. COUPLAND

was referredo as imperatorhroughoutheEmpire rom17,andthatthepapal

coronationf 823 s in

fact n eventwithoutonstitutive

ignificance

or

othar's

position

r title'.20

The charters

ere, owever,

ot he

nly

vidence

uggesting

hat he

portrait

coinage

was

minted t this ime:

hoard vidence ndicates

hat hecoins were

almost

ertainlyroduced

fter 22. The

Apremont-Veuillin

nd Belvézetfinds

demonstratehat

hey

were not n

circulation ithLouis the Pious'

Class

2

coinage

etween

18 and 822/3.Nor s it

ikely

hat

hey

were

mintedt the ame

time s

Louis's own

portraitoinage,

etween

14 and 818: of the

ight

oards

containing

oins

of

this

ype

Achlum,

premont-Veuillin,

elvézet,

orestad

,

'Frisia',Hon,Lauzès and StCyr), usttwo,Frisia' ndHon,also included or-

trait

oinsof Lothar.

What s

more,

eitherf thesewas

a

typical

inth-century

hoard,

n

that oth

ontained

wide

spread

f

coins from

period

whichwas

interruptedy

two

highly

fficient

ecoinages,21

nd both

displayed

notable

preference

n the

part

f their

wners or

ortrait

oins,

which

n

the

ase

of the

Hon

hoard ad been

gilt

nd

ooped

forwear n

a necklace.

y

contrast,

he

yp-

ical ater

oards rom

illigerheck

nd

Roermondncluded ive

ndthree

ortrait

coins

of Lothar

espectively,

ll from

ifferent

ies,

butnoneof

Louis's Class 1.

The

clear

mpression

s

therefore

hat othar's

ortrait

oinage

was not

mintedt

the

ame ime s

that fLouis

the

ious,

but

ater,

fter

22/3,

hen ouis's

Class

2 had beenreplaced ytheuniversal hristianaeligio ype. hishypothesiss

strengthened

y

the fact

hat

lthough

othar's

portrait

oins were

apparently

produced

y

at

eastfive

ifferent

ints,

ll five

sed the

nonymous

hristiana

religio

everse

egend

ather

han

mint-name.

If

this s the

ase,

we

must

ropose

datewhen

his

oinagemight

avebeen

produced,

nd there

re three

erious

ossibilities:

23,

833 or

840.22 he astof

these

ates

an be

ruled ut. n

that

ear

Charles he

Bald's mints

egan

produc-

ing

variety

f

designs,

ut

none f

them

ortrait

oinage,

while f

Lothar's wn

mints,

ordeaux,

ologne,

Dorestad,

Maastricht

nd Verdun

were all

striking

mint-signed

emple ypes

t

the

tart f

Lothar's

eign

see

below,

The

chronol-

ogyofmintingfter 40'). Evenmore ignificants the

discovery

fdie-linked

Christiana

eligio

ssuesof

Louis

the

Piousand

Lothar

which an

be

attributedo

the

Palace

mint,

ndicating

hat ne

of the

few

mints

nown o have

produced

Lothar's

ortrait

oinage

was

not

triking

t at the

utset

f Lothar's

eign.23

20

.M.

creen,

he

eignf

othar

(795-855),

mperorf

he

ranks,

hrough

he harter

vi-

dence

unpublished

hD

issertation,

niversity

f

Cambridge,

998),

.

161. m

eryrateful

o

Elina

creenor

etting

e

ead

copy

fher

ork.

21

At

Frisia'

he oins

anged

rom

ouis he

ious's

lass

to

Pippin

;

tHon

rom

Roman

soliduso

Kufìc

irhems

f

48-9.

22

Although

othar

ssuedwo

apitularies

n

taly

eferring

o

oinage

roduction

n

ebruary

32,

theres no easonobelievehathesè ereoingnythingorehanpplyingmperialegislation

to

heocal

ituation,

nd

elated

o

he

niversal

hristiana

eligio

ype

eing

truck

y

ouis t his

time:

onumenta

ermaniae

istórica

Capitularia

I

Hanover,

897),

p.

1 nd

3.

Unfortunately

no

uch

exts

ave ome

own

o s

from

othar's

eign

fter

40.

S.

Coupland,

die-link

etweenoins

f ouis

he

ious nd

othar

,

De

Beeldenaar2.6

(Nov./Dec.

988),

p.

38-9.

he wo

oins

ave een

eproduced

n

Plate

6,

5-16.



9/53

THE

COINAGEOF LOTHAR

(840-855)

163

Themeritf823,theoccasionof Lothar' coronationn taly,s thatt s the

earliest

f the

proposed

ates,

nd

therefore

he

closest

o

Louis's own

portrait

coinage,

o whichLothar's

oins,

notably

hose ttributableo thePalace

mint

(Group

1),

bear definite

tylisticffinity.

t would

lso follow

he

pattern

et

by

Louis thePious

n

817,

when othar's

ounger

rother

ippin

was made

ubking

of

Aquitaine

nd a token

portraitoinage

was

produced, robably

ocally

n

Aquitaine.24

he fact hat

tylistic

vidence

ermits

s to attributeothar's

or-

trait oins o the talian

mints fMilanand

Pavia,

s well as to the entral

alace

mint,

lso

supports

his

hypothesis,

s does the act hat

othar's

hancery

ssued

capitularies

n

his name

n

taly,

utnot

Francia,

t

this ime.

inally,

hiswould

alsoprovide context or othar's urportedtatemento hisfathern theLife f

Wala written

n

the 50s

by

Paschasius

Radbert,

hat

Your

highness

ndthewill

of the

people

constituted

e an associate

mperor

n thewhole

empire

with ll

power

nd

honour,

n

every

ocument

ndcoin

,25

learly

his

was

never rue:

no coins

were truckn thenames

f

both

ouis and

Lothar,

nd

yet

f herewere

a

period

when

Louis minted

oinage

n

Lothar's

name t wouldnothave been

a

total iction.

Alternatively,

ould

the

portrait

oinage

havebeen

produced

uring

he

evolt

of 833-4?

This s

possible,

ut

n

the ame

article

which atedLothar's

ortrait

coinageto his coronationn Italy n 823, I proposed hat hosenon-portrait

Christiana

eligio

ssues

whichbear

the title

ugustus

ather han

mperator

might

ellhavebeen

truck

uring

he evolt.26

his

theory

s

supportedy

ome

hoard vidence

nd

by stylistic

onsiderations.

In

the ase

ofthe

ormer,

hoard

ound t

Thouars

n

Deux-Sèvres

ncourages

the

notion hat he

non-portrait

ugustus

oinage redated

40,

n that

lthough

t

was concealed

n an arearuled

y

Charles

he

Bald after

40,

t ncluded

single

coin

minted

n thename

fLothar s

augustus

longside

hristiana

eligio

ssues

of

Louis the

Pious,

but

noneof Charles.

he coins

re

generally

are:

part

rom

this coin

and the seven

present

t

Pilligerheck,

know of

just

two

in the

Wagenborgenoard, hree t TzummarumI, and one each at Kimswerd,

Roermond,

oswinkel

nd Zelzate.

This

scarcity

ould

notbe

surprising

f the

coins

were truck

or

nly

year

n the830s.

Four

ubgroups

an be

distinguished.

he first

Pl. 35,

8-10)

includes

our f

the

oinsfrom

illigerheck,

ne

from

Wagenborgen,

ne

apiece

from

oermond

and

probably)

elzate,

nd

another

n

the

Berlin ollection.

n

these

ieces

the

title

s

+HLOTHAPIVSACV[S]

n

arge, prawling

etters,

nd,

unusually,

n all but

one case

the

beginning

f the

nscription

s not

aligned

with

he

arge

central

cross.

The

temple

n

the reverse

s

large

and

broad,

with shallow

roof nd

24

Coupland,

ippin

and '

pp.

97-9;

oupland,

Louishe ious',p. 4-5.Althougham

aware

f

nly

even

pecimens

f his

oinage,

hese

erell truck

romifferenties.

25

VitaWalae

ook

,

7.8: .Cabaniss

trans,

nd

d.),

harlemagne's

ousins

Syracuse,

967),

p.

187.

twas

robably

ritten

n he

arly

50s.

26

he vidence

s

presented

ore

ully

n

Coupland,

Louis he

ious',

p.

5-6.



10/53

164 S. COUPLAND

projectingower step,reminiscentn styleof Lothar'smint-signedemple

coinage

romMetz or Verdun. he

style

fthe

ettering

s unlike hat t

either f

those

mints,

nd

lthough

he orm fthe

mperor's

ame s similar o that n

the

Verdun

oinage,

heobverse ross s unlike hat n

Louis thePious's

Christiana

religio

ssues ttributableo

Verdun,27

nd the

presence

f four f these oinsat

Pilligerheck

ilts

he

balance

n

favour f Metz.

Group

I

(PL 35, 11)

includes wo

of

the

oinsfrom

illigerheck,

oth truck

from

he amereverse

ie,

reading

LOHARIV2REACV2

or

a

variant),

ith

nar-

row

temple omparable

o those n thePalace

portraitoinage.

This

similarity,

coupled

with

he form f the

obverse

egend, uggests

he Palace mint s the

origin.

A

third

roup

Pl. 35, 12-13)

can

tentatively

e attributedn

stylisticrounds

to the

Dorestad

mint,

s

I

have

suggested

lsewhere.28his

includes

single

(fragmentary)

oinfrom

illigerheck,

s well

as one coin

piece

from

oswinkel,

Tzummarum

I

and

Wagenborgen.

he

legends

on

both faces are

frequently

debased: for

nstance,

he coin from

zummarumI

reads +LOTANSI

MXACVS

and

XPT2IAHAINNC10.

Group

V

(Pl.

35,

14),

represented

y

a

single

oin

from zummarum

,

is

attributableo

Maastricht,

n the

grounds

hat t

ncludes

ring

n one

quadrant

of

he bverse

ross

see

the

iscussion f

ChristianaeligioGroup below).The

obverse

egend

s

+IOTAMVSIIIXACV2,

hile he

reverse

eads

XPT2IAHAMCIO.

These are

strikingly

imilar o

the

nscriptions

n the

Group

II

coinswhichwe

have

ust

ascribed o

Dorestad,

s

is the

style

f the

temple,

nd

the

possible

implications

f

these

arallels

willbe

discussed

elow.

The

fact hat ll

four

roups

an be

ascribed o

mints

n

the

Middle

Kingdom

which,

s

we shall

ee,

also

appear

o have

struck

hristiana

eligio

ssues

with

the itle

mperator

dds

further

upport

o

the

hypothesis

hat

hey

were

roduced

at

a different

ate,

nd

conceivably

uring

herevolt

f

833-4.29

In

sum,

ven

withouthe

upporting

vidence rom

he

hartersf a

change

n

Lothar's itle,t still eems hat hemost ikely atefor he ssueofLothar's or-

trait

oinage

was

823,

to mark

othar's

oronation

y

the

Pope

n

taly,

while

he

non-portrait

oinage

reading

otharius

ugustus

was most

probably

truck

ur-

ing

the

evolt f 833-4.

27

ee

Coupland,

Louis

he

ious',.44 Group).S. Coupland,Dorestadntheninthentury:henumismaticvidence',MP 5 (1988),

pp.

-26,

t

p.

18.

29

f

oins

ere

roduced

uring

he

evolt

earing

he

sual

mperial

itle,

mperator

wehave

t

present

o

meansf

dentifying

hem.

ertainly

one

as

et

een

oundn

hoards

omparable

o hat

from

houars,

ontaining

therwise

nly

oins f

ouis he

ious.



11/53

THE

COINAGEOF LOTHAR

(840-855)

165

THE CHRONOLOGY OF MINTING FROM 840

When ouis the iousdied n

June

40,

his sons

vidently

eganmintingoinage

in their wnname

traightway,30

ndLotharwas no

exception.

s we shall

ee,

theres

good

reason obelieve hat he irst

oinage ypes

o be

produced

ncluded

both

mint-signed

emple

oins nd the

nonymous

hristiana

eligio

ssues,

nd

in

taly

t s

quitepossible, lthough

arder o

demonstrate,

hat

oinage

with he

mint-namen

field

was also struck rom

he arliest

eriod.

n themore

northerly

mints,

hiswas

evidently

later

ype,

ntroduced

nly

.850.

To take he

Christiana

eligio

ssues

first,

remarkableie-linked

air

fcoins

foundntheEmmenhoard ffers clear ndication hat othar's oinagewas

minted

rom

40,

mmediatelyollowing

ouis

the

Pious's

coinage

f the ame

type.

hese coinswere truck rom he ame reverse

ie,

yet

heobverse f one

bore thename of Louis the

Pious,

while

the

other

was

minted

n the

name of

Lothar

(PL 36, 15-16).

1

It s of

course

heoretically

ossible

hat n old die was

put

o

one

side

in

case

t

might

ome n

handy

ne

day'

andre-used ftern nter-

val of several

years,

but the more

plausible explanation

s that

minting

f

Christiana

eligio

ssues

ontinued

ninterrupted

rom ne ruler o the

next,

er-

mitting

he ontinued se

of the amereverse ie.32

At the ame

time,

he vidence

uggests

hat

mint-signedemple

oinage

was

alsobeing roducedtthevery eginningfLothar's eignn certainmints. his

is,

for

nstance,

pparent

rom he

triking

f

temple

oinage

n

Lothar's

ame t

the Bordeaux

mint n 840-1.

33

Although

hiswas

really

oinage

produced y

Pippin

,

further

upport

or his hesis

s

provided

y

the are

mint-signedemple

issues of Louis thePious

which re known rom orestad nd

Maastricht,

nd

now lso

Verdun

PL 36,

17: Tzummarum

I

hoard)

nd

Cologne.34

lthough

ie-

linked oinshave not

yet

been

found o match heChristiana

eligio

air

found

at

Emmen,

t s

apparent

hat

n

839

or even 840 itself

t eastfourmints tarted

producing

int-signedemple

oinage,

nd

highlyikely

hat

hey

hen ontinued

to do

so in Lothar'sname.

Finally,

dditional

upport

s offered

y

the

tylisticsimilaritiesetween hristiana

eligio

ssuesofLouis thePiousand

mint-signed

temple

oinage

truck

y

Lothar

,

notably

t Trier nd

Verdun.35

As forLothar's

hird

oinagetype,

earing

he

mint-namen

field,

we must

make distinctionetween

he

majority

f talian

mints,

or

which his s the

nly

coinage ype

nown,

nd

the

many

orthern ints

which truck oth his

ndthe

30

Coupland,

Pippin

and

'

pp.

99-204.

31

Coupland,

Die-link'

as

n.

23).

32

As hall

e

demonstrated,

he

ikely

rigin

f his

air

f oins

as he alacemint

tAachen

(Group

l

below).

33

Coupland,Pippinand ',pp. 03-4.34A

single

oinfrom

ologne

was

present

n the WesterkliefI

hoard,

eading

+LVDOVVICVSREXMPE

MPE

igatured)

round

crosswith

oints

n the obverse

nd

COLONNECI

I

T]

S n he everse.

y

hankso

DrJan estemanor

hisnformation.

G

50,

coin f

his

ype

rom

ilan,

s

forgery:

EC

,

p.

217.

35

Coupland,

Louis

he

ious',

p.

2,

4.



12/53

166 S. COUPLAND

templeype.Among he atter,hefact hat verymintwhich s known ohave

produced

oth

ypes

ncorporated

differentbverse

egend

n the oinswith

he

mint-namen field rom hat sed on the

emple ype

ndicates hat

he wo

ypes

were onsecutiveatherhan oncurrent.oard

vidence lso

suggests

hat twas

struckater n Lothar's

eign,

ndfor

significantly

horter

eriod

han he

emple

type.

he firstonclusion an be drawn rom he

omposition

f hoards uch s

Emmen,

eposited

uring

othar's

eign

nd

containingnly

emple ypes,

nd

others uch s

Pilligerheck

r

Wagenborgen,eposited uring

he

eign

fLothar

II

and

ncluding

oinsof both

emple

nd

mint-name

ypes.

he second

onclu-

sion,

hat his econd

ype

was notminted or s

long

s

the

first,

s

suggested y

thefact hat hese ater oards till ontainedmanymore empleypeshan oins

with

hemint-namen field.

Minting

f

this

ype

hus

robably nly egan

.850.

If the

overall

picture

s thereforehat

mint-signed

emple coinage

and

Christiana

eligio

ssueswere truck ntil

.850,

when he

ype

with

mint-name

in

fieldwas

introduced,36

arious dditional actorsmust

lso be taken

nto

account.

irst,

s has been

mentioned,

omemints re

only

known o

have

pro-

duced he

ype

with hemint-namen

field. n the ase ofthe

xtremely

are

oins

of

this

ype

rom

inant,

Maubeuge

nd

Namur,

t s

possible

hat hese

mints

only

ame nto

peration

t the ndof

Lothar's

eign, lthough

he

vidence s so

limited hatwe cannot rawfirmonclusions.n thecase ofthe talianmints,

however,

hose ssues re

present

n

significant

umbersven n

some

northern

hoards,

t

seemsmore

robable

hat

hey

were

ctive

hroughout

othar's

eign,

and from he

start

epeated

he

design

of

Louis the Pious's

Class

2

Coinage.

Second,

ome mints id

not

pparentlyroduce

his

ype

t

all,

but

only

mint-

signed

emple oinage.

n the

ase

of

Verdun,

t

will

be shown

elow hat

heres

evidence hat

roduction

f the

temple

ype

ontinued rom

40

right

hrough

until

othar's eath n

855.

The

evidence

s less clear

cut at

Cambrai,

uy

and

Trier,

ut t

present

e know

nly

emple ypes

rom

hesemints.

hird,

t must

also be

borne n

mind hat ot

ll mints hich

truck

mint-signed

emple

oinage

alsoproduced hristianaeligiossues, nd vice- ersa.Althoughhe rguments

advanced

here

attributing

tylistic

roups

f the

anonymous

ssues to

specific

mints emain

entative,

here

s,

as we will

show,

ood

reason

o

believe hat he

most

mportant

roup

f

Christiana

eligio

ssues

Group

A)

was

produced

t a

mint

which

idnot trike

mint-signed

oinage,

ndthat

heTriermint

to

cite

ne

example)

did

not

produce ny

Christiana

eligio

ssues. n

short,

he

picture

s

complicated,

ven f

the

general

attern

s

clear.

36

he

hanged

bverse

egends

nd

isappearance

f

he

oints

round

he entralross

n he

mint-name

ype

uggest

hat

roduction

f he

nonymous

hristiana

eligio

oinage

lso

easedt

thisime.



13/53

THE

COINAGEOF LOTHAR

(840-855)

167

METROLOGY AND FINENESS

Very

ittleworkhas

yet

been

done on

analysing

he ilver ontent f Lothar's

coinage.

A

single emple

oin

of

Dorestad

which

an der

Chijs

had

analysed

n

the nineteenth

entury

urned ut to be of

very

poor quality, ontainingust

16-25%

silver.37 etcalf nd Northover

nalysed

hreemoreDorestad

oins

from heFitzwilliam

ollection,

woofthemwith hemint-namen field ndone

ofthe

emple ype,

ndfound remarkableifferenceetween

hem.

he

temple

coin and one of the mint-nameoins were of

verypure

silver

93.68%

and

93.36%

respectively),

hile he thermint-nameoincontained

ust

61% silver.

As a result fthis iscrepancyheyudged he atter o be a 'Frisianmitation',

judgementassed

lso on the oin

nalysed y

vander

Chijs.38

he

problem

ith

this therwise

lausible ypothesis

s that

here s

no

stylistic

eason o

dentify

these

articular

oins s

'imitations';

f

he

nalyses

adnot een arried

ut,

hey

wouldnothave been

singled

ut as

any

differentrom ther official'ssues.39

True,

he coin with61% silverhas moredebased

egends

han he

one

with

93.36%,

but t s

comparable

ith

greatmany

ther oinsof ts

ype,ncluding

a

specimen

rom heRoswinkel oard nd anotherold at auction n

1960

which

are

extremely

imilar,

f

not ndeed truck rom he ame obverse ie.40 s we

shall

ee,

among

othar's

oinage

ebased

egends

re

not

necessarily

n ndica-

tion fforgery.

Fig. 1.

37

Van er

hijs,

untener

rankische-

n uitsch-nederlandsche

orsten,

.

158,

l.

XV. 2.

38

.M.Metcalfnd .

Northover,

Coinage

lloys

romhe ime fOffand

harlemagne

o

c. 64', C1491989),p. 01-20,tpp. 15, 20.

39

Although

t s ruehat riersonnd lackburnid

esignate

EC 820

the

ooruality

hree-

line

ype)

Frisian

mitation,

heyentatively

id he ame or

MEC

.819,

he

emple

ssue ith

high

ilverontent.

40

Roswinkel:PK

931-309;

ress

8.X.1960,

426.



14/53


15/53


(840-855)

169

Fig. 2. Mintsf heMiddle

ingdom

nderothar.



16/53

170 S. COUPLAND

Langon nd StEmilion,s said to have containedny oinsofLothar,47ordid

any

other

quitanian

oards

rom

his

period.

his s further

vidence hat his

coinage

was struck n a

small

cale,

over short

eriod.

Nonetheless,

t

provides

a

tangible

eminderhat

upport

orLothar o succeedLouis

thePious as

sole

ruler f he rankish

mpire

xtended ar

eyond

he oundariesfhis

ownfuture

territory.

The

single

known oinfrom

ours,

f t s

genuine,

s

less

easy

to

explain

PL

36, 20).48

Whereas

t

s clearthat outhern

quitaine

was

under hecontrol

f

Pippin

I

in

840 and

841,

9

the ount f

Tours, dalard,

was

a

loyal upporter

f

Charles

he

Bald,

and

s

extremelynlikely

o have minted

oinage

n

Lothar'

name.50 oreover,he nly ccasion nwhich othar s known ohaveoccupied

Tourswas for brief

eriod

n

thewinter f

841,

after is

defeat t

Fontenoy

n

June f that

ear.51

t s of course

ossible

hat e

prevailed

pon

he ocal

mint

to

produce

small ssue of

coinage

n his

name

t that

ime,

ut ven then

we

would

not

xpect type

with he

mint-name

n

field,

hichwas

differentot

nly

from he

oinage eing roduced

nhis

own

Lotharingian

ints,

ut

lso from he

temple ypes

mintedn

Tours

by

Charles heBald. The

only

other

onceivable

opportunity

or he

production

f this

oinage

s the

revolt

f

833-4,

though

t

must e said that hat s an

equally mplausiblexplanation.

Cambrai

Pl.

36,

21-2)

Only

very

ew

pecimens

fLothar'

temple oinage

earing

hemint

ame f

Cambrai

KAMARACA2CIVS

r the

ike)

are known.Gariel

LIX.14)

copied

n

illustration

rom

ombrouse,

ut t s doubtful hetherhis

ccurately

epicted

the

original

oin.

One coin was found t Zelzate and two n the

Pilligerheck

hoard,

nd these eveal

fascinating

nd

unexpected

act. he

style

f

the oins

is distinctive:

hey

ave

arge, prawling

ettersn both

aces,

ndon

the bverse

a sizeable rosswithwell

spacedpoints

n

the

ngles.

The obverse

egend

eads

+HLOTARIVSIMPn one coin,withpoints ither ide of theR (PL 36, 21),

+HLOTHARIVS1MP

n the ther

wo,

with

point

etween

he

L

andtheO

(Pl.

36,

22).

The

temple

as a 90° roof

ngle,

with

hebase ofthe oof

rojecting

o

both

sides.

The

columns

re of medium

ength,

ometimes ith

apitals

nd some-

times

without. he bottom

tep

s shorterhan he

op

one.

47

On

the

ssumption

hathe

eposition

f hese oards as

related

o

the

Vikingiege

f

Bordeauxn

47-8,

ee

.

Coupland,

harleshe ald nd he

efencef

heWest

rankish

ingdom

against

he

Viking

nvasions,

40-877

unpublished

issertation,

ambridge

niversity,

987),

pp.

8-30;

imon

rmstrong,Carolingian

oin

oardsnd he

mpact

f he

iking

aidsn

he inth

century',

C

1998,

p.

31-64,

t

p.

142.

48 have o videncehatheoin, hichs nBrusselsMG 53),s nythingtherhanenuine,

except

orhe xtreme

mprobability

f ts

xistence,

nd

he warenesshat

orgers

erectiven

he

nineteenth

entury

roducing

are nd hereforeesirable

ieces,

ncluding

oins

urportedly

f

Lotharwithhemint-namen ield:ee

MEC

,

.

333 nd

.1501.

49

Coupland,Pippin

and

I',

pp.

00-1.



17/53


(840-855)

171

I havedescribedll of hese eaturesn detail ecause hey nmistakablyatch

the

tyle

f sizeable

group

fLothar'

Christiana

eligio

ssues,

Group

below,

as a

glance

tthe

lates

will

how

compare

I.

36, 55-7).

This

group

hould on-

sequently

e attributedo

Cambrai,

evealing

he

urprising

act

hat henumber

of finds f

anonymous

ssues far

utweighs

henumber f finds f

mint-signed

coins

precise

etails

willbe

given

elow;

n

brief,

he

Group

coinswere ound

in six or seven hoards nd as a

single

find,

nd

in

both he

Pilligerheck

nd

Roermond

oards

they

were

present

n

significant

umbers).

ambraithus

appears

ohavebeen

more

rolific

int han he inds f ts

mint-signed

oinage

would

uggest,

n which ontextt s worth

earing

n mind hat nder ouis the

Pious,no fewer han ighteenoins of Cambraiwerefound n theApremont-

Veuillin

oard,

while therswere lso

present

n two

hoards

rom

orestad nd

one

from keren.

Although

t wouldthereforeeem

probable

hat ambrai lso

struck hristiana

eligio

ssues

under ouis the

Pious,

have not een

any

oins

whichmatch hedistinctive

tyle

f Lothar's

Group

B.

Cologne

PI. 36, 23-4)

Lothar

truck oth

ypes

f

mint-signedoinage

t

Cologne,

earing temple

nd

with hemint-namen field. lthoughhe bversenscriptionn the emple oins

bears he itle

re

'

which

might uggest

hat

hey

were truck

y

Lothar

I

rather

thanhis fatherhe

mperor,

his orms

art

f

a

longer

itle,

rex

mperatoť

or,

more

ccurately,

I+l+PI),

ndicating

hat

hey

were ndeed truck

y

Lothar .

Comparable

nscriptions

re also found

n

temple

oinage

from

Maastricht,

nd

the

presence

f these

oins n hoards

which ontain ther ssuesof Lothar

,

but

none fLothar

I,

supports

he

scription

o Lothar . Even

so,

those

emple

oins

of

Cologne

which ear

he horteritle Hlotharius

ex

(in

an evenmore ebased

form)

hould

e ascribed o Lothar

I. This

pplies

o

single

inds

rom

chouwen

and

Nijmegen,

oth

reviously

ttributedo Lothar

,

and coin

n theRoswinkel

hoard.52 e Man's reasonfor ttributinghe coin from chouwen o Lothar

ratherhan

othar I seems o

havebeen

imply

hat he

Cologne

mintwas not

n

operation

nder othar

I

-

a

curiously

ircular

rgument.

Very

ew

finds

f

either f

Lothar 's

coinage ypes

rom

ologne

have been

reported:

n

each

case

just

two coins

n hoards nd

one

single

find.53

he

only

50

J.L. elson

trans,

nd

d.),

he nnals

fSt-Bertin

Manchester,

991),

.

55,

n.12.

51

Nithard'sistories

II.4: .W.

cholz,

arolingian

hronicles

Ann

rbor,

972),

.

161.

52

chouwen:

arie

e

Man,

Een

nbeschrevenenarius

an OTHARIUS

vermoedelijk

e

Keulenf

ndie

mgevingeslagen',

MP 5

1938),

p.

3-73

Haertle

26);

Nijmegen:

aertle

689.

he oin

romhe oswinkel

oard

Haertle

5/137)

as isted

s Indeterminate'

nder G

561,nd izarrelydentifieds Crraiin',sans outene éformatione .. CARNOTIS'Chartres)inG.

Depeyrot,

eNumerairearolingiencorpusesmonnaiesParis,993),.146.

53

Templeypes:

échain

one),

roningen

one);

ingle

ind:

omburg

de

Man,

Que

ait-on',

p.

104

Brussels,

e

Jonghe

8:Pl.

36, 3).

Mint-name

nfield:

illigerheck

one:

I.

36,

4),

Wagenborgen

one);

ingle

ind:rier

K.-J.

illes,

Neuere

arolingische

ünzfunde

us

Trier',

Funde

nd

usgrabungen

m

ezirk

rier4

1982],

p.

4-9,

t

pp.

6,

8).



18/53

172

S. COUPLAND

other ublished pecimen f which am aware s a temple ypepublishedn

1923,

4

andan unusual oinwas

present

n

the

Zelzate

hoard

which

ppears

o be

a

Christiana

eligio

ssue

ofLouis thePiousoverstruckith hedies for othar's

Cologne emple oinage.Despite

his

oin,

no

Christiana

eligio

ssuesofLothar

are known

which

an

be ascribed o

Cologne,

nd theoverall

mpression

s that

it was a minormint t this ime.

Despite

ts mall

ize,

the

oinage

s nonetheless

ignificant

n

thatmost fthe

surviving

oins

bear

xtremelyegenerate

egends.

he most

ccurate re

among

the

temple

oinage:

+LOTHARIVSR1+I+P1,

or

example,

but others re

almost

unrecognisable, articularly

mong

those

bearing

the mint name in

field:

+IIIIOTARIVS1I1PEP1TOr the ike PL 36, 24). Such debasement as inthepast

led some authors o conclude hat uchcoins werenotofficial

ssues,

butwere

either

orgeries

r struckt unofficialteliers.

owever,

hese re he

nly

known

issues

bearing

henameof

Cologne

t this

ime,

nd we

would

xpect

town f

its

significance

o

have had

tsown

mint: t

was,

after

ll,

an

archbishopric,

nd

had

produced

oth

eniers ndobolesunder ouis thePious.55What s

more,

he

fact hat o

many

ther

otharingian

ints lso

produced oinage

with arbarous

inscriptions

see

notably uy,

ut

lso

Dinant,

Maastricht,

etz and the

Palace)

speaks

n

favour f these

eing

fficialssues.There s

also a

parallel

n the

ase

of Charles heBald's mint tAuxerre, hichwas strikingimilarlydebased'

coinage

tthis ime.56s we shall ee

below,

his as obvious

mplications

or ur

interpretation

f the

much more

plentiful,

nd

equally degenerate,

orestad

coinage.

Dinant

Maubeuge

nd

Namur

PL

36, 25)

Dinant

nd Namur re

long

known o have minted

re-reform

oinage

under

Charlemagne

nd

Gratia

Dei

rex ssues fter

69,

but t

was notuntil he

discov-

ery

of theRoermond

oard

n

1968 that hese wo

vici,

or

trading

ettlements,

couldbe added o the istof Lothar'smints. venthen,ustonecoin from ach

mintwas

present

n

thehoard. n the

case

of

Dinant,

he

obverse

nscription

s

poorlyengraved

ut

decipherable

s

+IILOTHVRIV2VI,

nd

the mint

name,

DEONA-NTEMO-NET

,

is

writtenn three ines.The

coin from

amur s

neater,

reading

HLOTAPIVSIMPEP

n the

obverse

with

point

efore he

S)

and IMVI-

CONA-MVCO

on the reverse.57

s for the

single

known

specimen

from

54

MG532-4 s

misleading.

G532

=

Brussels,

e

Jonghe

8

found

t

Domburg),

.88

(Pl. 6, 3).

MG 33 Hävernick

5

Groningen

890

Meyer

ale

as

n.

17)

60 Berlin

MG

pl.

XVII),

.47g.

G

34 houldherefore

e

deleted,

nd

eplaced

y

Hävernick

6

=

Blätter

ür

Münzfreude

8

1923),

.

414,

l.

62.22,

eading

HTOTIAIIV«/»AI

retrograde)/

ODIINECIVITS,

1.02 .55

Though

hese,oo, renot nownn

arge

uantities,

he inds

eingust

hreeoinst

Apremont-Veuillin

nd

wo t

Dorestad,

fwhich

newas

resent

n

hoardnd ne

single

ind.

56

Coupland,Earlyoinage

fCharles

he

alď,

p.

26-8.

57

Aswell s n

he oard

escriptiony

an

Gelder,

he oinsre

llustratedn

Hubert

rère,

e

denier

arolingien,pécialement

n

Belgique

Louvain-la-Neuve,

977),

p.

9 nd

6.

Not

nMG.



19/53

THE

COINAGEOF LOTHAR

(840-855)

173

Maubeuge PL 36, 25), thatwas presentn thePilligerheckoard,reading

+HLOTARIVSM1PEPATOround crosson the

obverse,

nd MAL-PODI-VSn the

reverse.58

hese

three s

yetunique pecimens

ll

suggest

hat he

mints

n

ques-

tion

were ctive

nly

n a

very

imited

cale,

perhaps nly

fter he ntroduction

of themint-name

ype

.850.

Dorestad

PL

36, 26-30)

The evidence f

ninth-century

indsmakes t

plain

hat othar' Dorestad

oinage

dominatedhe

urrency

f theMiddle

Kingdom. eaving

n one

sidethe

typical

TzummarumI hoard,withts2,606Dorestadssuesoutof2,789coins ntotal,

virtually

ll thehoards

eposited

n

Lotharingia uring

he840s

and

850s

con-

tainedmore oins of Dorestad han f

any

othermint.59ot

only

hat,

utmore

coins f

Dorestad

avebeen

found

utside heMiddle

Kingdom

han

f

ny

ther

ofLothar's

mints. o

complete

he

icture,

orestad ssues lso dominate

he in-

gle

finds

f

Lothar's

oinage,

ven when

stray

inds rom orestad

tself re

excluded rom he

reckoning.

I

have

discussed

he

oinage

t

ength

lsewhere,60

o will

briefly

ummarise

the

points

made there nd add

other bservations

n

the

ight

f

new research.

Coinproductiont Dorestad nder othar ollowed hepattern itnessedlse-

where:

temple oinage

followed

y

a

type

with hemint ame

n

field

n

the

reverse. he obverse

egends

n the

temple

oinage

PL 36,

26-8)

are

almost

invariably

arbarous,

with the

emperor's

name

most

commonly

eading

IOTAMUS,61

nd

the

ide

ranging

rom

PNEIRAT

hrough

ERIATo

NERAT.62n

a

number

f

these

emple

oins,

he

egend

s

retrograde

Pl. 36, 28).63

he other

coinage ype,

with hemint-name

n field

Pl. 36, 29-30),

has a different

bverse

legend,

HLOTHAR1VSIMPERA,

ith he

T

and

H

usually igatured,

ut

t, oo,

s

equallyfrequently

lundered,

ometimeslmost

o

the

point

f

unintelligibility

(Pl.

36,

30).

Although

he

barbarity

f

the oinshas often een

taken s

an indi-

cation hat heywere heproductsf an unofficial int, haveargued trongly

that hiswas not the

case,

but

that hese

types

were

ndeedLothar's

official

Dorestad

oinage.

Three

principal

easons

have been

advanced

for

ttributing

58

afaurieitedhe

iece

nhis ist f he

oard'sontents

n

1970,

hough

twas

ot

nowno

Morrisonnd runthal

Find

3),

or as t isted

y epeyrot

nhis

corpus'

f

arolingian

oinage

published

n

1993

see

n.

52).

59

he

nly xception

fwhicham

wares the

npublished

oardrom

alst,

hoseleven

coins

ere

llfromnunofficialint

see

Group

below).

60

Coupland,

Dorestad'

as

n.

28).

61

nno an

Gelder

xaminedver 00

oins f he

emple

ype,

nd ound

ust

ne

withhe or-

rectormf hemperor'same,OTARIVS.en thersorehe ormOTARIVSr OTAPIVS,ithall the est

eading

OTAMVS,

rworse: . Enno an

Gelder,

De

Karolingische

untslag

e

Duurstede',

MP 8

1961),

p.

5-42,

t

p.

22.

62

or remarkable

election,

eeArent

ol,

Spectaculaire

chatvondst

it e 9e

eeuw',

e

Beeldenaarol.

6/2,

arch/April

992,

.

69.

63

hreeut f

orty

t

Roermond,

ut

ust

our

f 37 t

Pilligerheck.



20/53

174

S. COUPLAND

these oinsto an unofficialtelier:heblunderednscriptions,64hevariationsn

fineness,

oted

arlier,65

nd the mallnumber f finds t Dorestad tself.66

he

arguments

gainst

his

view still eemto me to

outweigh

hese onsiderations.67

First,

s has been

mentioned,

number f Lothar's thermints truck

imilarly

debased

egends,

nd t s notable hat he

everses

f

both

emple

ndmint-name

types

t Dorestadwere

onsistently

orrect,

eading

OREST

TVSMON(eto)

nd

DOR-ESTA-TVS

espectively.

econd,

s van

Gelder

oted,

he oinswere lmost

all struckt

regular

ngles

0°,

90°, 180°,

270°),

ndicating

mintwith

signifi-

cant

egree

f

technical

xpertise.68

hird,

here lse

n

Frisiawouldwe lookfor

a mint

apable

f

uch normous

roductivity?

s has

already

een

ndicated,

his

coinageoutnumbershat fevery ther ne ofLothar'smintsn almost very

hoard nside nd

outside heMiddle

Kingdom,

ith ne hoard lone

containing

over wo

nd a half housand

oins.

f

the oins

were

nonymous,

e wouldnat-

urally

urmise hat

hemost

ikely

ocation or uch mintwouldbe

Dorestad,

the

argest mporium

n the

north. s it

s,

the

mint-name

s

consistent ith hat

assumption.

ourth,

orestad

was

granted

n

benefice

o Scandinavianhieftains

during

he

greater

art

f Lothar's

eign,69

ho even

f

they

were

oyal

to their

Frankish

verlord,

may

have

employed

ie-cutters ho were not

especially

skilledwith

etters,

nd

may

nothave been

so concerned s the

emperor

bout

producingoinsofthe orrect ineness.70ertainlyomeofthe oinswere truck

on

unusuallyarge

lans

see

e.g.

PL

36, 27)

and

overall he

emple oinage

was

significantly

eavierthan

the norm

see

above,

'Metrology

nd

fineness').

Finally,

ith

egard

o the

number f

single

inds t

Dorestad,

f

we look at the

wider

icture,

nder

harlemagne

4

outof 105

mint-signed

oinsfound t the

sitewere

ocal

issues

13%),

under ouis the

Pious,

he

figure

as

15 out

of

65

(23%),

but

nder

othar itwas 12

out f

13

92%)

Even

taking

ll

contemporary

coins nto

ccount,

ncluding

hose fCharles he

Bald

and

Pippin

I,

the

propor-

64

ee .g.MEC , .223.65Metcalfnd

Northover,

Coinagelloys',

p.

15,

20.

66

H.E.van

Gelder,

Coins

rom

orestad,

oogstraat

',

nW.A. an

s andW.J.H.

erwers,

Excavationst

Dorestad:

The

arbour,

oogstraat

Amersfoort,

980),p.

22-3.

67

am

gratified

hat

lthough

anGelder

ppeared

o

repeat

he

iew hathe

oinage

as he

product

f n

unofficial

intnhis

ublication

f he

oermond

oardn1985

JMP

2,

.

37),

e

wrote

n

personal

ommunicationo

me n

1988 hathis as an

videntrror:hewordsin en

niet

fficieel

untatelier"

houlde

rosseduť.

68

Van

elder,

Karolingische

untslag

e

Duurstede',

.

29;

Coupland,

Dorestad',

.

20.

69

Coupland,

From

oachers

o

gamekeepers'

as

n.

8),

pp.

0-7;

Dorestad',

.

21.

70

his

oint

lso

aiseshe

ntriguing

ossibility

hat

iking

arbandshich

erective

n

he

West

rankish

ingdom

nd cross

he hannel

t hisime

ay

ave een orestad

san ttractive

place

n

whicho

fence'

heiroot

ithout

aving

o

makehe

onger

ourney

omeo candinavia.

Certainlyhereave een indsf candinavianaterialnDorestadhichuggesthe resencefmorehan

ust

henamedhieftains:ee

e.g.

J.H.

Holwerda,

Opgravingen

an

Dorestad',

Oudheidkundige

ededeelingen

it et

ijksmuseum

an

udhedene

eiden

I

1930),

p.

2-96,

at

.

83;

H.H. an

egteren

ltena

nd .A.

Heidinga,

The

Northea

Region

n

he

arly

edieval

Period

400-950)',

n

B.L.

van

Beek,

.W.

randt

ndW.

Groenman-van

aateringe

eds),

x

Horreo,

PP

1951-1976

Amsterdam,

977),

p.

7-67,

t

p.

56.



21/53

THE

COINAGEOF LOTHAR

(840-855)

175

tion fDorestad ssues s stillnoless than 4% (12 outof27 finds).71hesefig-

ures end

strong

upport

o the

hypothesis

hat othar'sDorestad

oinage

was

minted t the

ite,

ven

f

they

lso reflecthe

rchaeological

vidence hat he

port

was

in

economic ecline t this

ime,

vidently

ue to the

gradual ilting p

of the

iver hine.72

However,

f t s

accepted

hat heDorestad ssuesof Lothar

wereminted t

the

mporium

tself,

here

ppears

o be a conflictf evidence. n the

ne

hand,

the

tray

inds

cho the

rchaeological

vidence hat he itewas

n decline nder

Lothar

-

indeed,

thad

virtually

eased to

operate y

themid-860s

but n the

other

and,

henumberfDorestad ssues

n

thehoards

uggest

hat he conomic

boom whichhadbeen so evident nder ouis thePious was continuingnder

Lothar,

ven fat a reduced

ate.73

ow

do

we reconcile he wo?

Whatmust

be

emphasised

s that he

finds f

temple oinage

are far

more

numeroushan hose f the econd

ype

with hemint-name

n

field.

We have of

course

artlyxplained

his s

being

ue to the horteruration

f

minting

fthe

second

ype,

ut thecontrast etween he

figures

s

extreme.

or

example,

he

largest

inds f themint-name

ype

ontained 6

and 16

coins,

butthese

were

present longside

606

and

119

temple ypes

espectively.74

r

again,

outside

Dorestad

hirty-seventray

inds f

temple ypes

ave

been

recorded,

ut

nly

en

withhemint-namenfield;75t Dorestad tself he omparable iguresreeleven

andone.

f

the

ort's

ecline

ad

already

et

n

at the

eginning

fLothar's

eign,

it

thus

ppears

o have accelerated

apidly

n the

850s.

Avery

mall

group

fLothar's

hristiana

eligio

ssues

just

wo

oinsknown

to

me)

can also be ascribed o Dorestad

Group

G

below).

71

hese

igures

re ased n

my

wn

npublished

esearch,

ombining

ineteenth-nd

wentieth-

century

ccounts.he

igures

or

harlemagne

nd harles

he ald onotnclude

hessues

rom

Bourges

ndMelle hich

ight

ave een

truck

y

ither

uler,

ut he

majority

erelmoster-

tainlyroducedy harlemagne,ivenhe elativeroportionsf he theroinsf hesewoulers.72Van s andVerwers,xcavationstDorestad,pp. 97-9; oupland,Dorestad',p. 1-12,

22-3.

73

he vidence

orhe

oom

nderouis he iousnd

he essationf conomic

ctivityy

65

can

e

found

n

Coupland,

Dorestad',

articularly

t

pp.

-12.

74

zummarumI

and

oswinkel.

75

Stray

indsf

empleypes:

akkum

one);

alloo

one);

ourg

tPierre

one);

uinen

two);

Domburg

thirteen);

ongjum

one);

ouda

one);

erford

one);

eeuwarden

one);

Maurik

one);

Oosterbierum

one);

riesterwal

one);

ossum

one);

chouwen

one);

ettle

Attemire

ave)one);

Wangford

one);

Wijnaldum

seven);

pres/Boesinghe

one).

With int-name

nfield:

lphen

.d.

Rijn

one);

uren

one);

eventer

one);

omburg

one);

ijnden

one);

Malburg

one);

ijmegen

(two);

hetford

one);

anten

one).

eferences

an e ound

nHaertle

04, 16,

34, 42,

44, 07,

641, 91-2,98, 18, 56-60,71;

H.H.

ölckers,

arolingische

ünzfunde

er

rühzeit

751-800)

(Göttingen,965) IX.40;BN 846,p. 27-8; 99 Kunstnd ulturer arolingerzeit3vols,Mainz,999),ol. ,

pp.

90-1; .J.E.irie,Findsf sceattas"nd stycas"fNorthumbria',n

M.A.S. lackburn

ed.),

nglo-Saxon

onetaryistory

Leicester,

986),

p.

7-90,

t

.

79,

o.

5;

Phil ndrewsnd enneth

enn,

xcavations

n

Thetford,

orth

f

he

iver,

989-90

Gressenhall,

1999),

.

38;

EMC

993.0187;

npublished

indsecorded

n

KPK

29-04-1996,

8-06-1997,

1-07-

1997,06-11-1997,

2-02-1998,3-02-1998,

1-03-1998).



22/53

176 S. COUPLAND

Huy PL 36, 31-2)

Huy

s anotherfthosemints fLothar

which

roduced

oinage

with debased

obverse

egend,

n

this ase

along

the inesof

lOTAPIVSIMPIPAT,

r worse.On

some oins he

reverse

egends

re ess

blundered,

eading

OGISEMONET

,

but

others re

so difficulto

decipher

hat ne of

the oinsfound t

Pilligerheck

as

offeredor ale

as from n unknown

int

Kress

ale,7.viii.l967,

97).

The coins

are,however,

asilydistinguishedy

the

presence

f three

oints

n an inverted

triangle

eneath he

emple

n

the

reverse. ive werefound t

Pilligerheck,

wo

at Emmen nd

t east ne at Ballon

Sarthe)

n

Charles

heBald's West rankish

kingdom.76

An

examinationf these

ight

oins

assuming

hat he

drawing

f the

Ballon

coin

n

RN

1839

s

accurate)

nd another wo

n

the

Berlin

ollection,77

eveals

that

hey

were truck rom

ight

bverse ies and

ust

four everse

ies.There s

in

addition

Christiana

eligio

ssue from heRoermond oardwhose

degener-

ate

style

s so similar

o that fthe oinsfrom

uy

that have

hesitantly

scribed

it to the

mint,

espite

he absenceof the characteristichree

oints

Group

H

below).

The

style

f the

emple

n

the

pieces

s akin o that f Lothar'

coinage

from

the

Palace,

with

steep

oof,

rojecting

ointed

able,

bottom

tep

onger

han

the op ne, nd central rosswhich s moreike fiftholumnwith ba

Documents

The coinage of Lothar I (840-855) / Simon Coupland