1/2 Gold Ecu - Mary

Dombes was a sovereign principality straddling what is now the Ain département, ruled in 1614 by Marie de Bourbon, who had inherited it at age two and governed through regents for much of her early reign. The French crown had long viewed Dombes with suspicion — its independent mint rights were a persistent irritant to Bourbon centralization, and the principality's coinage authority would eventually be extinguished when Louis XIV absorbed Dombes into the royal domain in 1762.

This half écu is among the smaller gold denominations struck at Trévoux, the principality's mint town. Dy féodales 2965 is the standard reference, with Friedberg 126 confirming the type.