Aachen Karlsdenar

Front of the Aachen silver denarius

Back of the Aachen silver denarius

The Aachen Karlsdenar , a Carolingian silver coin , was recovered on February 22, 2008 from the foundation area of the Aachen Palatine Chapel during archaeological work in the northeast yoke of the sixteenth corner. This was the first coin found in Aachen from the time of Charlemagne .

Description of the coin

The obverse of the coin shows a cross in the middle with the inscription CARLVS REX FR [ANCORVM] , which means Karl, King of the Franks ; as a separator there is a cross between FR and CARLVS. On the back, the Karolus monogram with the V-shaped completion line is shown in the middle . In this type of coin is there as a transcription of the respective stamping location .

The Aachen coin from 2008 bears the legend METVLLO . The silver denarius was minted in the city of Melle (present-day France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region ) after 794 .

In the coin reform of 793/794 it was stipulated that 20 shillings or 240 pfennigs (denarii) must be minted from one pound of silver. The introduction of the new coins with largely standardized coin designs ( novi denarii ) in the Frankish Empire was decided at the Frankfurt Synod of 794 .

Archaeological importance

The coin probably got into the ground during the construction of the Palatine Chapel - before the floor was finished.

Together with the dendrological findings and written records of Einhard and Sigebert von Gembloux , the coin is of great importance for defining the dating of the start of construction of the Carolingian Palatine Chapel, which, according to the latest findings, has now been proposed for "around 795".

Web links

Archaeological portal Aachen: The denarius of Charles. Silver denarius of Charlemagne from the cathedral excavation .
ame / dpa: Mysterious coin find . In: Focus Online .

Remarks

↑ Based on the find situation of the coin in the excavation of the excavation of 1910, which comes from an area with an undamaged mortar floor, it can be concluded that the Carolingian screed was only added after 794. Based on: Ulrike Heckner: The Temple of Solomon in Aachen - dating and geometric design of the Carolingian Palatine Chapel . In: Andrea Pufke (Ed.): The Carolingian Palatine Chapel in Aachen. Material - construction technology - restoration (= workbook of the Rhenish monument preservation 78). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2012, ISBN 978-3-88462-325-1 , p. 59, note 2 based on: Andreas Schaub, Tanja Kohlberger-Schaub: Archaeological investigations in the Aachen Cathedral . In: History in the Diocese of Aachen , Volume 9, 2007/2008, pp. 15–36.
↑ " 795 ... Extruxit etiam Aquisgrani basilicam plurimae pulchritudinis, ad cuius structuram a Roma et Ravenna columnas et marmora devehi fecit " ("795 ... he also built the extremely beautiful church in Aachen, for the construction of which he brought columns and marble from Rome and Ravenna let ”). From: Sigeberti Gemblacensis chronica cum continuationibus . In: Georg Heinrich Pertz u. a. (Ed.): Scriptores (in Folio) 6: Chronica et annales aevi Salici. Hanover 1844, pp. 268–535 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version ), quoted in: Ulrike Heckner: Der Tempel Salomos in Aachen - Dating and geometric design of the Carolingian Palatine Chapel . In: Andrea Pufke (Ed.): The Carolingian Palatine Chapel in Aachen. Material - construction technology - restoration (= workbook of the Rhenish monument preservation 78), Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2012, ISBN 978-3-88462-325-1 , p. 31.

Individual evidence

^ Archeology portal Aachen: The denarius of Charles. Silver denarius of Charlemagne from the cathedral excavation , accessed on May 25, 2017.
↑ ame / dpa: Mysterious coin find . In: Focus Online , accessed April 5, 2013.
^ Institute for History of the University of Würzburg: coin reform of Charlemagne ( memento of December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on April 5, 2013.
↑ Helmut Maintz : Dendrochronological dating of wooden ring anchors, octagonal dome and foundation wood, octagonal pillar No. 7, In: Karlsverein - Dombauverein (ed.): Dombaumeistertagung in Aachen 2009 , series of publications by the Karlsverein - Dombauvereins, issue 13, Thouet, Aachen 2011, p. 98.
^ Andreas Schaub: New archaeological investigations at Aachen Cathedral . In: Karlsverein - Dombauverein (ed.): Dombaumeistertagung in Aachen 2009 , series of publications of the Karlsverein - Dombauverein, issue 13, Thouet, Aachen 2011, p. 106f.
↑ Ulrike Heckner: The Temple of Solomon in Aachen - dating and geometric design of the Carolingian Palatine Chapel . In: Andrea Pufke (Ed.): The Carolingian Palatine Chapel in Aachen. Material - construction technology - restoration (= workbook of the Rhenish monument preservation 78). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2012, ISBN 978-3-88462-325-1 , p. 43.

[6] Based on the find situation of the coin in the excavation of the excavation of 1910, which comes from an area with an undamaged mortar floor, it can be concluded that the Carolingian screed was only added after 794. Based on: Ulrike Heckner: The Temple of Solomon in Aachen - dating and geometric design of the Carolingian Palatine Chapel . In: Andrea Pufke (Ed.): The Carolingian Palatine Chapel in Aachen. Material - construction technology - restoration (= workbook of the Rhenish monument preservation 78). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2012, ISBN 978-3-88462-325-1 , p. 59, note 2 based on: Andreas Schaub, Tanja Kohlberger-Schaub: Archaeological investigations in the Aachen Cathedral . In: History in the Diocese of Aachen , Volume 9, 2007/2008, pp. 15–36.

[7] " 795 ... Extruxit etiam Aquisgrani basilicam plurimae pulchritudinis, ad cuius structuram a Roma et Ravenna columnas et marmora devehi fecit " ("795 ... he also built the extremely beautiful church in Aachen, for the construction of which he brought columns and marble from Rome and Ravenna let ”). From: Sigeberti Gemblacensis chronica cum continuationibus . In: Georg Heinrich Pertz u. a. (Ed.): Scriptores (in Folio) 6: Chronica et annales aevi Salici. Hanover 1844, pp. 268–535 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version ), quoted in: Ulrike Heckner: Der Tempel Salomos in Aachen - Dating and geometric design of the Carolingian Palatine Chapel . In: Andrea Pufke (Ed.): The Carolingian Palatine Chapel in Aachen. Material - construction technology - restoration (= workbook of the Rhenish monument preservation 78), Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2012, ISBN 978-3-88462-325-1 , p. 31.

[archaeologie-aachen-1] Archeology portal Aachen: The denarius of Charles. Silver denarius of Charlemagne from the cathedral excavation , accessed on May 25, 2017.

[2] / dpa: Mysterious coin find . In: Focus Online , accessed April 5, 2013.

[3] Institute for History of the University of Würzburg: coin reform of Charlemagne ( memento of December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on April 5, 2013.

[4] Helmut Maintz : Dendrochronological dating of wooden ring anchors, octagonal dome and foundation wood, octagonal pillar No. 7, In: Karlsverein - Dombauverein (ed.): Dombaumeistertagung in Aachen 2009 , series of publications by the Karlsverein - Dombauvereins, issue 13, Thouet, Aachen 2011, p. 98.

[5] Andreas Schaub: New archaeological investigations at Aachen Cathedral . In: Karlsverein - Dombauverein (ed.): Dombaumeistertagung in Aachen 2009 , series of publications of the Karlsverein - Dombauverein, issue 13, Thouet, Aachen 2011, p. 106f.

[8] Ulrike Heckner: The Temple of Solomon in Aachen - dating and geometric design of the Carolingian Palatine Chapel . In: Andrea Pufke (Ed.): The Carolingian Palatine Chapel in Aachen. Material - construction technology - restoration (= workbook of the Rhenish monument preservation 78). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2012, ISBN 978-3-88462-325-1 , p. 43.