Item number: A254

Year: AD 565-578

Material: Gold

Size: 15.0 x 11.2 x 0.5 mm

Weight: 0.9 g

Provenance: Coincraft 2018

This is a tremissis gold coin minted by the Merovingian dynasty, the first Frankish regime established in Gaul during the Dark Ages following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The gold coins of the Merovingian dynasty largely followed and imitated the coinage of the Western Roman and Byzantine empires. The obverse features a left-facing portrait of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor Justinian II, while the reverse depicts an abstract image of the Victory goddess, with a laurel wreath on the left and a cross on the right.

The coin features Latin legends on both sides, though due to the degradation of minting techniques and the coin’s incomplete condition, the exact date of minting is indeterminable. However, by comparing it with similar types of coins, it is likely that the obverse inscription reads “D N IVSTINIANVS PP A,” which stands for “Dominus Noster Justinianus Perpetuus Augustus” (Our Lord Justinian, Eternal Augustus). The reverse typically features the inscription “VITORIA AVCCC,” meaning “Victoria Augustorum” (Victory of the Augusti).

Even in AD 476, when the invading barbarians expelled the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, marking the fall of the Western Roman Empire, coins from the Roman period continued to play a significant role in the economy of Western Europe during the Dark Ages. For example, various barbarian kings of the Merovingian dynasty minted only a few new coins, primarily to assert royal authority.

The Merovingian dynasty, established by the Franks around AD 457, was the first kingdom considered a precursor to modern France. The kingdom adopted a feudal system, granting local lords significant autonomy. In AD 751, the last Merovingian king was deposed by the powerful mayor of the palace, Pepin the Short, who then established the Carolingian dynasty. This shift had profound implications for the interactions between the church and monarchy in Western Europe during the medieval period.

物件編號: A254

年代: 公元 565-578 年

材質: 黃金

尺寸: 15.0 x 11.2 x 0.5 mm

重量: 0.9 g

來源: 錢幣工藝 2018

這是一枚在西羅馬滅亡後的黑暗時代，法蘭克人在高盧地區建立的第一個政權墨洛溫王朝打造的特雷米西斯金幣。墨洛溫王朝的金幣大抵沿襲和模仿西羅馬和拜占庭的錢幣，正面為拜占庭(東羅馬)皇帝查士丁尼二世左側肖像，背面則是抽象的勝利女神像，左邊有一個月桂花環，右邊則是一個十字架。

硬幣雙面皆有拉丁銘文，惜因鑄幣工藝的退化和錢幣本身不完整，無法判斷確切的鑄造時間。不過以相似類型的錢幣作比較推斷，正面的銘文可能是「D N IVSTINIANVS PP A」，即「我們的主 查士丁尼 永恆的奧古斯都」縮寫。背面則是搭配勝利女神的常見銘文「VITORIA AVCCC」，即「維多利亞 奧古斯都」的意思。

即便在公元476年，入侵羅馬城的蠻族驅逐末代皇帝羅慕路斯·奧古斯都標示著西羅馬帝國的滅亡，但羅馬時期遺留的錢幣仍在黑暗時代的西歐經濟扮演重要角色。諸如墨洛溫王朝的各路蠻族國王，僅鑄造少許新硬幣作為彰顯君王權威。

墨洛溫王朝是公元457年之際，由法蘭克人創立的第一個王國，被視為日後法國的雛形。王國採取采邑制，故地方領主享有高度自主性。公元751年，末代國王被權臣矮子丕平罷黜，自立為國王的丕平開創加洛林王朝，並對於中世紀之際西歐的教會和國王之間的互動產生深遠影響。