1/2 Gold Ecu with sun - Henry III Piedfort

Piedforts were never intended for circulation. The French royal mint produced them as presentation pieces — given to dignitaries, foreign ambassadors, and occasionally retained as master references against which future strikes could be compared. A piedfort of this type at double the standard fabric represents a deliberate act of court patronage, not a monetary instrument.

1576 places this squarely within the Wars of Religion. Henry III had just issued the Edict of Beaulieu that year, granting substantial concessions to the Huguenots — a move that provoked the formation of the Catholic League under Henri de Guise almost immediately.