French Denier of Philip II

Timeline

1. c. 1191–1195Tours · FranceIn the early 1190s, Philip II promoted silver coin standardization; mints at Tours and elsewhere produced deniers bearing the royal name, with more stable weight and silver content than older coins, gradually replacing the assorted small silver coins of various localities and becoming the basic unit of royal finance and town transactions.
2. c. 1196–1200Paris · FranceIn the late 1190s, to fund the Third Crusade and subsequent wars against England, the royal administration levied the scutage and town taxes using standardized deniers. The silver coins circulated with armies and merchants to Flanders and the Champagne fairs, forming a complementary cross-currency trade network with Byzantine gold coins and Islamic dinars.