28 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A coin of Queen Fastrada and Charlemagne found – First of its kind

A coin purchased by the Charlemagne Center in Aachen, Germany, bears the name of Queen Fastrada. This is the first known example of a queen being named on a Carolingian coin.

The coin represents the first known example of a queen, indeed of any woman (other than the virgin Mary) being named on a Carolingian coin, and because the coin type was only introduced in 793 and Fastrada died in August 794, it can be very precisely dated.

The dating of numismatic remains from the Carolingian period is difficult when it is not frankly conjectural. The coinage reflects both Charlemagne’s affection for Fastrada and the power he was willing to share with her.

The third wife of the great Carolingian king Charlemagne, Fastrada played a critical role in her husband’s reign. She was born around 765, the daughter of powerful East Frankish Count Rudolph. In 783, only five months after the death of his second wife, Himiltrude, Charlemagne married her to cement an alliance with her father in his war against the Saxons. They would have two daughters over 11 years of marriage before Fastrada’s death in 794.

Monogram denier of Charlemagne, Reims, 1.99 g, 22 mm. Single find, Wijk bij Duurstede, 1989. Photo: National Numismatic Collection, Dutch National Bank
Monogram denier of Charlemagne, Reims, 1.99 g, 22 mm. Single find, Wijk bij Duurstede, 1989. Photo: National Numismatic Collection, Dutch National Bank

Minted between 793 and 794, likely in Aachen, the coin is inscribed on the obverse side with +CARoLVSREXFR[ancorum], (‘Charles, king of the Franks’), and on the reverse +FASTRADA REGIN[a], (‘Queen Fastrada’), around the royal monogram of Charlemagne (KAROLVS). It is a silver denier of a type known as the monogram denier after the KAROLVS monogram.

As a result of their infrequent appearance in contemporary writings, historians of today can generally say little about the Carolingian queens. Fastrada is an exception, with a “uniquely well-documented queenly career” in terms of early medieval annalistic records, according to Janet Nelson. According to contemporary sources, Charlemagne had a genuine affection for Fastrada, which this coin also bears witness to.

Wandalgarius codex, St Gallen Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 731, p. 111: www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/csg/0731/111
Wandalgarius codex, St Gallen Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 731, p. 111: www.e-codices.unifr.ch/de/csg/0731/111

King Offa of Mercia, who had a penny minted in 792 bearing the name of his wife Queen Cynethryth, must have inspired Charlemagne. They had extensive trade contacts and were actively planning a marriage between Charles’ son and Offa’s daughter at one point. It can’t be a coincidence that the silver denier uses the same syntax as the Cynethryth penny, with the Latinate title ‘REGIN(a)’ for Fastrada.

Despite the parallels between these Mercian and Carolingian coinages, three significant differences are also evident from the discussion above. The first is the scale: as was noted earlier, there are more than fifty recorded examples of Cynethryth’s coinage, from numerous different dies, but this is the first and to date only specimen of a coin of Fastrada.

https://doi.org/10.1111/emed.12640

Cover Photo: Monogram denier of Charlemagne and Fastrada, 1.63 g, 21 mm. Holger Hermannsen, Centre Charlemagne, Aachen

Related Articles

5,700-Year-old Ancient “Chewing Gum” Gives Information About People and Bacteria of the Past

4 April 2021

4 April 2021

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have successfully extracted the complete human genome from “chewing gum” thousands of years ago....

Germany: 700-year-old Causeway Found Under Central Berlin Street

19 February 2022

19 February 2022

Archaeologists from the Landesdenkmalamt Berlin (LDA) made a sensational find during their excavation at Molkenmarkt: about 2.50 m below Stralauer...

Archaeologists unearth mosaic floors in the ruins of a building they believe is the lost Church of the Apostles

23 October 2021

23 October 2021

In the historical village of Bethsaida on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, archaeologists discovered mosaic floors in the...

2,000-year-old altar found in Alexandria Troas

9 October 2021

9 October 2021

A 2,000-year-old altar was unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Alexandria Troas, in a region close...

World treasure that cannot be displayed in the Local Museum in Pljevlja, Montenegro

30 July 2023

30 July 2023

Despite representing one of the most valuable portable cultural assets of Montenegro, the Pljevlja Diatreta is not accessible to visitors. The...

Poseidon Temple in Greece Larger than Previously Assumed

27 January 2024

27 January 2024

New excavations at Kleidi-Samikon in Greece’s Western Peloponnese show that the temple, discovered in 2022, is more monumental than previously...

Comb and gold hair-ring dating back more than 3,000 years unearthed in south Wales

14 July 2023

14 July 2023

Archeologists in south Wales, have unearthed a golden hair ring and the oldest wooden comb ever found in the U.K....

The Historical Building Next To The Million Stone Will Sell

6 February 2021

6 February 2021

Everyone has heard of the Million Stone, which was built during the Byzantine Empire and accepted as the zero points...

One of its kind, 1,500-year-old Roman ‘Lorica Squamata’ legion armor restored

19 June 2024

19 June 2024

The 1,500-year-old Roman ‘Lorica Squamata’ legion armor, the only known example in the world, found in the ancient city of...

New discoveries have been made at a 9,000-year-old Amida mound in Turkey

1 January 2022

1 January 2022

The most recent archeological investigations at the 9,000-year-old Amida Mound in southeastern Turkey’s Diyarbakir province have uncovered fresh finds that...

Megalithic structure found in Kazakhstan was probably a place of worship for miners in the Bronze Age

2 September 2024

2 September 2024

Archaeologists investigating a megalithic monument in the Burabay district of the Akmola region of Kazakhstan have revealed that the monument...

A Detectorist has Discovered a Completely Unique Medieval Seal Matrix in the UK

2 December 2023

2 December 2023

A medieval seal die, described by experts as ‘completely unique’, has been found by a metal detector at a field...

Largest ever Roman silver hoard in Germany found in Augsburg

12 November 2021

12 November 2021

Archaeologists in Augsburg, Germany, revealed unearthed a historical hoard including 15 kg of silver coins from the Roman Empire’s era....

High school student discovered a 1500-year-old ancient Magical Mirror

9 August 2023

9 August 2023

 A High school student discovered an ancient “magical mirror” meant to ward off the evil eye in an archaeological excavation...

Archaeologists Uncover Roman London’s First Basilica Beneath an Office Basement

13 February 2025

13 February 2025

Archaeologists have made a groundbreaking discovery beneath an office building in London, unearthing a substantial section of the ancient city’s...