Aachen penny of Charlemagne

On the reverse, the famous monogram of Charlemagne is in the centre, with the v-shaped execution line.

The introduction of the new monetary system with broadly unified coinage types (novi denarii) in the Frankish realm was decreed at the Council of Frankfurt in 794.

The silver penny was, therefore, minted in the period after 794 in the city of Melle, in Poitou-Charentes (modern-day France).

[5][6] Ulrike Hecker said, "The coin was found in the backfill from the excavation of the grave of 1910, which was made in an area of intact flooring.

"[7] The penny, then, along with dendrochronological finds and the literary records of Einhard and Sigebert of Gembloux,[8] is of great significance for dating the beginning of construction of the Carolingian Palatine Chapel, which according to this latest discovery can only be dated "soon after 795.