1/4 Groschen - Charles III 6th type

Charles III ruled Savoy for nearly five decades but spent much of that reign as a political hostage to the great powers pressing on his borders — France and the Habsburgs carved through his territory repeatedly, and by 1536 Francis I had occupied most of the duchy outright, leaving Charles with little more than Piedmont under nominal control. Coins continued to be struck in his name throughout the occupation, a bureaucratic persistence that makes precise dating within the long 1504–1553 span genuinely difficult.

The "6th type" designation in Biaggi reflects the extensive die and design evolution across Charles's reign — MIR 412 distinguishes this emission from at least five prior variants.