1/4 d'écu - Henri IV - 5e type

Henri IV's quarter-écu coinage was minted under conditions of near-constant disruption. The king spent the first years of his reign fighting to actually control the country he had inherited, and mint operations across France reflected that instability — some facilities struck for the League, others for Henri, and output was intermittent at best. The 5th type introduced a revised design to distinguish legitimately royal coinage from the competing issues struck in his name by towns and mints of uncertain loyalty.

Specimens from provincial mints — Bayonne, Rennes, Bordeaux — often show rougher workmanship than Paris issues, a direct consequence of workforce disruptions during the Wars of Religion.