FRANCE, Provincial. Nevers. Denier (Silver, 20 mm, 1.05 g, 3 h), immobilized issue in the name of Louis IV d'Outremer, Nivernis (Nevers), circa 1050-1100. ✠ LODVI[?]CVI Monogram. Rev. ✠ IN(retrograde)[...]ZVIT Cross. Boudeau 340. Duplessy 751 var. (differing legends). Poey d'Avant 2111 var. (differing legends). Nicely toned. Of crude style. Areas of weakness, otherwise, about very fine.


Denier issues of Nevers have been the subject of scholarly disagreement for decades. Morrison and Grunthal regarded them as products of the Carolingian ruler Louis IV (cf. M&G 1633-1635) who ruled between 936 and 954, whereas Poey d’Avant - followed later by Duplessy - assigned the series to the Counts of Nevers. Their argument rests largely on the wide range of increasingly degraded and blundered legend forms.

This latter attribution has now become the prevailing view, and we adopt it here as well. Even so, Poey d’Avant’s interpretation is not without its problems. From the time of Guillaume IV (1161–1168) onward, the counts’ names begin to appear explicitly in the legends (cf. Duplessy 754ff.). During the 11th century, however, no fewer than five different Counts of Nevers held power, yet none can be identified by name on the coinage traditionally ascribed to them. The documentary record, unfortunately, offers no firm evidence for when comital minting at Nevers actually began.

Whether these enigmatic coins are best understood as a lingering Carolingian tradition or as some of the earliest products of emerging feudal authority in France, they serve as a reminder of how fragmentary our knowledge of medieval minting structures still is.