Sale: CNG 64, Lot: 1409. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 24 September 2003.  Sold For $1350. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Carolingian Kings of FRANCE. Charlemagne. 768-814. AR Denier (1.53 gm). Milan mint. Struck 793-812 AD. +CARLVS REX FR, cross / +MEDIOL, Karolus monogram. M&G 212; Prou 905; MEC I 743. Good VF with original hoard patina. ($1500)

Charlemagne continued the campaigns of his father Pepin to re-establish the Frankish kingdom as it existed under Clovis, which would have included parts of northern Italy. Pepin had forced the Lombards to cede territory to a resurgent Papacy, including the old imperial capitol of Ravenna, and his son Charlemagne completed his work by deposing the last Lombard king Desiderius in 774. Charlemagne's position as ruler of the west was formalized by his proclamation as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day in the year 800, while in 812 the Byzantine emperor Michael II acknowledged his title as Imperator. The primary Frankish mints in Italy were Milan, Pavia, and Treviso, but minting ended at all of them before the accession of Charles the Bald in 840.