Coinage of the Merovingians

Sale: CNG 82, Lot: 1159. Estimate $1000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 16 September 2009.  Sold For $3200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MEROVINGIANS, Limoges (region). Circa 725-750. AR Denier (0.98 g, 2h). [..O?] LAR[...] (AR inverted), male head left / [...] ObE[...], large Є with crossbar formed by Latin cross. NM 5; cf. Belfort 3471 (Paris); cf. Prou 800 (Paris); MEC 1, -. Good VF, toned, a little rough.

The Merovingians were a dynasty of Frankish kings who ruled in parts of present-day France and Germany from the fifth to the eighth century AD. Sometimes referred by their contemporaries as the "long-haired kings" (Latin reges criniti) because they symbolically left their hair uncut, the Merovingians claimed descent from the legendary fifth century AD leader of the Germanic Salii, Merovech.

Initially foederati of the Romans, the Franks migrated into northern Gaul, where they settled and established petty kingdoms; the smaller kingdoms were soon united under Clovis [Clodowech] (AD 481-511), the founder of the Merovingian dynasty. During his reign, the last vestiges of Roman rule were extinguished, other competing regional Germanic tribes were absorbed, and the Visigoths were pushed southward into Spain. To strengthen his position, Clovis allied himself with the Church, and on Christmas Day, AD 496, he was baptized at Rheims.

When Clovis died in AD 511, his kingdom was divided among his four sons, and, over a period of time, four main regional divisions were established: Neustria and Austrasia in the north; Aquitaine and Burgundy in the south. This tradition of dividing the kingdom proved an inherent weakness in the Merovingian state. Throughout much of the rest of the dynasty, struggles ensued as various heirs vied among themselves for a larger share of the royal inheritance. While some of Clovis’ descendants, most notably Chlotar I (AD 558-561) and Dagobert I (AD 629-639), were able to rule briefly as king over all of these areas, most of the kings were weak and relied on their palace chiefs of staff, colloquially known as the “mayor of the palace” (Lat. maior domus), who soon became de facto rulers. In AD 751, the mayor, Pépin le Bref (the Short), removed his Merovingian overlord, assumed the title of king, and became the first in the next dynasty of Frankish kings, the Carolingians.