• crazyfedora@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    So, what currency did the Merovingians use? Really I want to know. What coins did Charles Martel have in his purse?

    • Don't Mind Me@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      Generally they didn’t -it was a barter economy- but there were two exceptions. The first is the Roman solidus, a thin gold coin about the size of a US quarter, but those show up mostly in the context of extravagant royal transactions (“and king Childebert gave 6,000 solidi to the monastery of St. Martin,” that sort of thing). The second are various small copper and silver coins minted locally but in very small quantities. I’m not sure if there is a consensus as to whether they were genuine currency or mostly tokenistic.

      • crazyfedora@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Thank you for the answer! Is there a lemmy community to discuss these things? Om Reddit there are /r/Francish and other historical subreddits, but I’m new on lemmy and have not figured everything out yet I think.