1/8 Ecu of Bearn - Henry IV

Henry IV struck coins at Pau — the mint of Béarn — under a separate monetary authority from the French royal mint system, a consequence of Béarn's status as a sovereign viscountcy theoretically independent of the French crown. This jurisdictional ambiguity persisted even after Henry inherited the French throne in 1589, meaning Béarn issues from his reign exist simultaneously as French royal coinage and as the output of a technically distinct polity.

The years 1589–1610 bracket Henry's entire French reign, ended by Ravaillac's knife on the Rue de la Ferronnerie.