France. Charlemagne or Charles le Chauve (768-877). Denier, Melle mint. MEC 1, 923-933. Depeyrot 606. PA 2347. AR. g. 1.50 mm. 22.30 Lovely old cabinet tone. X graffito on reverse. About EF. New research by Guillaume Sarah (“Charlemagne, Charles the Bald, and the Karolus Monogram Coinage,” in NC 2010) indicates that monogram deniers with the legend CΛRLVS REX FR were struck as late as the reign of Charles le Chauve. While Sarah’s metallurgical analyses identified particular issues, without hoard provenance, or until a die study is completed, attribution of these issues of Melle to either Charles is not possible. (CNG 254, 392 note).