1/2 Ecu - Henry II Piedfort

Piedforts — coins struck at double or greater thickness on a standard-diameter flan — were produced by the French royal mint primarily as presentation pieces and official receipt tokens, not for circulation. Henry II's monetary reforms of the 1540s and early 1550s reorganized the French silver coinage substantially, and piedforts of this period were often made to confirm new weight and fineness standards to provincial mints and foreign trading partners. A gold piedfort of a silver denomination is an exceptional object: the underlying coin is a half écu in silver, but striking it here in high-karat gold at elevated weight places it firmly in the category of rarissime presentation strikings rather than monetary issues.