Collectors:
If you are going to go after a definite Charlie-Magnie, you are facing an expensive proposition. Most of
his coins go for $1,000 and up; however, there's a fudge factor.
Buy the book first. The book to get is: Georges
Depeyrot. "Le Numeraire Carolingien Corpus
des Monnaies."
Moneta [Wetteren, Belgium] and/or Maison Florange [
Paris], 1998, 314 pages plus many pages [unnumbered] of drawings and plates, numbered 1 to 4.
I got mine from Sue Hagadorn at
shagadorn@shagadorn.com
I find that the author studied 31 examples of my Charlemagne [768 - 814] coin from Melle [604] that was issued 771 - 793/4. [CARO-LVS in 2 lines/Medolus in a
circle] This is a definite Charlemagne, second issue. I suspect that it would sell for well over $1,000 these days. It never leaves my bank vault.
Charlemagne's first and second issues were melted down when the third issue appeared. Issues 1 & 2 can be called mostly
scarce, not
rare. Going into the
pot also were all the coins of Charlemagne's father, Pepin, the Short [754-768]. Word of mouth says that 100 examples of Pepin's coin exist FROM 40 MINTS. I think there might be a few more in these days of metal detection.
Number 606 is a denier of either Charlemagne or
his grandson, Charles the Bald [840-877]. [+CARLVS
REX FR cross/+METVLLO in
monogram]. The author studied 5,754 examples of 606. Any dealer asking $1,000 for 606 is dreaming, because the collector can not be sure it's a Charlemagne. Also, for a Carolingian coin it's outstandingly common. I got mine for about $100 in EF+++. I call it the fudge-factor Charlemagne. Mine is labeled "Charles, the Bald."
Follibus Fanaticus