In 845 AD, the Normans appeared outside the gates of Paris. The warriors from the North only withdrew after the payment of a high ransom. To pay for the tributes, King Charles the Bald (843-877) had a lot of new coins minted. This denier might have been struck in the course of this coinage. It was made in Paris, as the inscription reveals. The design goes back to a coin image that Charles' father, Emperor Louis I, had used for some years around 820. The obverse shows a cross and the name and title of the king (CARLVS REX), while the reverse bears the name of the mint (PARISII).