In 992, Emperor Otto III granted minting rights to Echternach Abbey. Coins were minted by the abbots from Abbot Humbert (1028-1051) to Abbot Godfried I (1123-1155), well before the beginning of coinage by the counts of Luxembourg. All sovereigns until Charles V upheld the Abbey’s minting rights, but only 11th- and 12th-century abbots took advantage of them.

For a hundred or so years, the Echternach mint issued twelve types of this large-flan coin. Coins struck during this period are generally rather shoddily minted. Hardly more than forty Echternach coins have survived. Intended for long-distance trade with the North, most of them have turned up in Viking hoards in Russia and Sweden.

With the economy of this period still heavily dependent on barter, it is not surprising that only a dozen or so coins minted prior to 1120 have been found on Luxembourg territory. Besides, monetary circulation was largely dominated by coins from more important mints in the episcopal cities of Trier and Metz.