Catalog
1/2 Doppia - Honoré II
| Issuer | Monaco |
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| Year | 1650 |
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| Currency | Livre tournois (781-1795) |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Honoré II facing right, depicted with long flowing hair and a lace collar, in the baroque portrait style typical of mid-17th century coinage. The effigy occupies the central field and is rendered with fine engraved detail. A circular legend surrounds the portrait, reading from the lower left and continuing around the periphery of the coin. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Honoré II secured formal recognition of Monegasque sovereignty from Louis XIII in 1641 through the Treaty of Péronne, which ended Spanish suzerainty over Monaco and placed the principality under French protection. The coinage that followed — including this half doppia — was among the first issued under that new arrangement, asserting the right to strike gold that the Spanish overlords had effectively suppressed. Honoré II adopted the title "Prince of Monaco" for the first time in history precisely during this period.
The doppia denomination itself derived from Italian monetary tradition, reflecting Monaco's geographic and commercial orientation toward Genoa and the Ligurian coast rather than Paris.