page_title: Quentovic
section_title: Quentovic Coinage
hierarchical_section_title: Quentovic / Quentovic Coinage
caption_attribution_description: English: Denier of Pepin the short (reigned 752-768). Minted at Quentovic between c. 754-768. Obverse: the legend "Rx:F" with a line above. Reverse: the legend QVCCI VVIC? on two lines, with a line separating. On both: a rim of beads.
context_page_description: Quentovic was a Frankish emporium in the Early Middle Ages that was located on the European continent close to the English Channel. The town no longer exists, but it was thought to have been situated near the mouth of the Canche River in what is today the French commune of Étaples. Archaeological discoveries led by David Hill in the 1980s found that the actual location of Quentovic was east of Étaples, in what is now the commune of La Calotterie. It was an important trading place for the Franks and its port linked the continent to England, specifically to the southeastern county of Kent. From what we know today, Quentovic was founded by a Neustrian king in the early 6th century. It was one of the two most prominent Frankish ports in the north until it was abandoned, probably in the 11th century. Merchants were drawn to this place because the number of trading posts at the time was limited. Quentovic was also the place where Anglo-Saxon monks would cross the English Channel on their pilgrimage to Rome. A lack of physical evidence, and the sudden disappearance of this emporium, make the town difficult to interpret.
context_section_description: The coinage of Quentovic is the most extensive evidence that survives today. The earliest known coins minted in Quentovic are from the 560s. These coins have some form of the towns name minted on them. The mint of Quentovic produced gold trientes in the first half of the 7th century. These trientes had an image of the royal bust and the moneyer's name printed on them.  In approximately 670, Merovingian gold coinage was no longer produced. In its place, silver was used for coins which the Franks called sceattas.  They were minted in Quentovic in the late 7th and early 8th century. This vast amount of coinage indicates that Quentovic was flourishing during this time period. The coinage would have been used mainly for mercantile purposes, and so trade must have been strong at the time.  When the Carolingian dynasty took over in 751, coins continued to be minted in Quentovic under Pippin III. After Pippin's reign, the situation suddenly changed. Coins minted in Quentovic under Charlemagne and Louis the Pious are very rare. This signifies that Quentovic had less economic significance under Charlemagne, than in the century prior. Instead Melle, Chartres, Paris, Orléans, and Rheims were all far more prominent mints.
  Many historians have argued that by the second half of the 9th century Quentovic was in decline.  The Edict of Pistres in 864 is the last written reference to Quentovic.  It also seems to have been beneficial for the town's economy. There has been significantly more coinage found in the reign of Charles the Bald after the edict than in the decades before.  After the edict's reforms, the amount of silver in these coins also increased by a significant amount.   These coins supply evidence for the argument that Quentovic had an economic resurgence in the 860s and the 870s.  In the 10th century, coinage from this mint again became scarce.  This, and the fact that no written text from this time mentions Quentovic, lead historians to support that the port town was in decline again.  The last known coin to be produced in Quentovic is dated in the year 980.
caption: Denier of Pippin III, minted at Quentovic between c. 754-768.
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