1/2 Helmeted Lion - Louis II de Male

Louis II de Male struck this half-denomination in 1365 as part of a broader monetary reform aimed at stabilizing Flemish coinage after decades of debasement and competitive devaluation against French royal issues. The County of Flanders occupied an awkward political position throughout Louis's reign — nominally a French fief, yet economically and commercially oriented toward England, its primary wool supplier. That tension shaped every monetary decision Louis made, including the weight and fineness of his gold issues.

Delmonte records this type as genuinely scarce in any grade, a reflection of its brief emission period rather than low original production.