Description

• The Franks were an ancient Germanic people who lived in Northern Gaul and north European regions first mentioned in the 3rd century by Roman historians although they were certainly active well before then. They were militarily active with and against the Romans as well as other neighbouring Germanic tribes such as the Saxons. Romanised Franks rose to power in the 5th century when they conquered most of Gaul in parallel with the collapse of the western Roman empire. Around the 460-500s under the leadership of kings such as Aegidius, Childeric and his son Clovis I, they gave rise to the Merovingian dynasty later followed around 800AD by the Carolingian dynasty to became one of the most powerful groups in Europe. In 732, they defeated the Muslim army at the Battle of Tours. The Franks also played a major role in the fall of Rome, the rise of Medieval Europe and the 'Holy Roman Empire' in contrast to the hegemony of the Byzantine Empire in the East. The term Frank or Frankish is very broad and hence also includes the regional involvement of the (Frankish) kingdoms in the Crusades through to the end of the middle ages around 1300.
• The first silver coins were minted in Lydia in Asia Minor around 600 BCE though its use for coinage at scale can really be attributed to the Greeks, with silver Obols and Drachms. Roman silver coinage included the Denarius in the 3rd century BC which came to be the backbone of Roman Republican and early Empire monetary system. This was replaced in the 3rd century AD by the double denarius which is generally referred to as an Antoninianus, denoted by the emperor's image with a radiate crown. A later Roman silver coin of the 4th century AD was the Siliqua. Silver has been used for coinage throughout history because it is durable, malleable, and has a relatively low melting point. It is also abundant enough to create coins but rare enough so that not everyone can produce them. Silver is also valuable enough so that it can easily be exchanged for goods and services.