AD 781

Charlemagne’s monetary reforms

After decades of mon­etary dis­order, Pepin the Short decided to stand­ardise the weight and shape of the silver denier in AD 755. Char­le­magne con­tinued his father’s efforts to restore order to the mon­etary system, rein­stating the royal monopoly over the minting of coins and making the silver denier the official cur­rency of the empire.

The sou was worth 12 deniers and the livre was worth 20 sous: this counting system, known as the duo­decimal system (from the Latin duo­decimus meaning one twelfth), was used up until the French Revolution.