Clovis II, AD 639-657

Cf. NM 27 (for type); cf. Belfort 3354 (moneyer name not inverted); cf. Prou 688 (same); MEC 1, -, PCGS graded AU-58

Clovis II succeeded Dagobert I as ruler of the Merovingian Frankish kingdoms of Neustria and Burgundy. He was a minor for most of his reign, allowing first his mother Nanthild and then the Frankish nobility to control him. His consort, Bathild, was a slave who had been given to Clovis II as a gift and bore him the three sons destined to succeed him. Later historical tradition deemed Clovis II to have been insane. He is often considered the first of the rois fainéants (“do-nothing kings”)—a term used to describe the successors of Dagobert I who tended to be little more than figureheads for the powerful mayors of the palace.

Paris. Eligius, moneyer. PARISI […], diademed and draped bust right. Reverse: […]LODOVI[…], cross ancrée; cross-tipped staff above and below; ELICI retrograde across field below crossbar.

Ex Triton XXI (10 January 2018), 929; Rauch 102 (7 November 2016), 1338; NGSA VI (30 November 2010), 414