CNG 100, Lot: 471. Estimate $2000. Sold for $2500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

FRISIANS. 9th century. Pale AV Solidus (20mm, 4.55 g). In the name of Carolingian emperor Louis the Pious (814-840). VIIT-VIIT, laureate and draped bust right / VNVVIVIVIVIVIIVИ, cross pattée within beaded circular border. Cf. Grierson, Gold, Type XIII; cf. MEC 1, 752-6. VF, toned. Very rare.

From the collection of Dr. Lawrence A. Adams. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 70 (21 September 2005), lot 1141.

Grierson classifies the imitative solidi of Louis the Pious according to 29 types. Although varying greatly by the competence of the engraver and quality of the gold, the imitations cited do share some common features. They often have a legend in which at least some part of the name of Louis can be discerned, ...VVDOV... or a variation thereof, and the cross on the reverse is usually enclosed within a wreath with a trefoil tie. Additionally, the reverse "legend" usually has an O at or near the 12 o'clock position. The present coin does not display any of these features, and in general appears more crude than the published examples. The iterated VIIT resembles the fragmentary legends of continental "Frisian" sceats of a century earlier. By the time of Louis the Pious, this had simply become a generalized coin legend that had been copied for generations. These and other extremely rare Carolingian gold solidi had little long term impact on the economy or coinage system, and it would be several more centuries, with the introduction of the Venetian ducat and the Florentine florin, that gold would play a significant role in the western economy.