Catalog
1/2 Ecu - Honoré II
| Issuer | Monaco |
|---|---|
| Year | 1652-1653 |
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| Currency | Livre tournois (781-1795) |
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| Obverse description | Right-facing draped bust of Prince Honoré II, depicted with long flowing hair and a short beard, wearing armor partially covered by a draped mantle; at the chest, the jewel of the Order of the Holy Spirit is prominently displayed on its cordon. The effigy is rendered in a bold, high-relief baroque style characteristic of mid-17th century French coinage. A beaded inner border frames the design, with the circular Latin legend distributed around the periphery of the field. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Honoré II secured the title "Prince of Monaco" from Louis XIII in 1633 — the first time that designation was formally used — after decades of Spanish suzerainty ended with Monaco's pivot to French protection under the 1641 Treaty of Péronne. These silver issues followed from that new political alignment, struck under a ruler who had effectively invented the principality's modern sovereign status through careful diplomatic maneuvering rather than military force.
Surviving examples in any grade are genuinely scarce. Monaco's mint output in the 1650s was limited by both the territory's size and the short window of Honoré II's coinage program before his death in 1662.