It was time to do this. ...Mine was also the only bid on the lot. Carolingian /Robertian France. Raoul, 923-936. Denier of Paris. Obv. Early, cleverly subtle reworking of the iconic Carolingian 'KAROLVS' monogram: 'R ([center:] o d v) L F [...v again] S.' +GRATA DI REX. (The formulaic Carolingian 'GRATIA D-I REX' legend, minus the dash.) Rev. In four lines: + / [P]ARISI ['S', retrograde] / CIVITA / + My own references (unlike cgb's own, which, from here, are frankly more arcane): Depeyrot (3rd ed., 2008) 774. Nouchy, Les Rois Carolingiens, p. 283, No. 34. Cf. p. 272 and plate for Raoul's three principal monograms. I'd always liked the Carolingian issues with two or more horizontal legends; for once, there was thematically coherent reason to actually do this. ...Even for a Robertian, whose reign is of no less moment to the peroiod than the late Carolingians'. ...Um, mostly as a prototype for this example of the increasingly Robertian /proto-Capetian Hugo Magnus, as Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris, 923-956. ...Found unattributed on Delcampe; maybe 23 Euros before shipping. You could compare it to this example, from CNG: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3595215 (A couple more examples: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?similar=6701440 .)
Thanks, @spirityoda. As with that much medieval, 'interesting' is the heart and soul of the esthetic. I'm still wondering whether there was a specific inspiration for the Carolingian horizontal-legend thing. Guesses (or better) would be cordially welcome.
