1/2 Ecu - Honoré II

Honoré II secured the title "Prince of Monaco" from Louis XIII in 1612 — the first ruler of the Grimaldi line to hold that designation — but his coinage authority came with strings attached, tightly bound to French monetary conventions. The half écu denomination was adopted directly from French practice, and Monaco's output was modest enough that surviving pieces from this seven-year window frequently show die rust and minor doubling, reflecting a small and intermittent workshop rather than a sustained mint operation.

The three Gadoury references covering this type reflect genuine die variation across the issue rather than simple cataloguing redundancy.