4 Scudi - Francesco Hyacinth

Francesco Giacinto — Francesco Hyacinth — reigned for less than a year, dying in October 1638 at age four. His mother, Christine of France, a daughter of Henri IV, governed as regent and was the effective authority behind any coinage struck in his name. The 4 Scudi issue is essentially a regent's coin wearing a child's name.

The Duchy was under sustained French pressure throughout this period, Christine's regency contested by her brothers-in-law Thomas Francis and Cardinal Maurice of Savoy, who sought Spanish backing to displace her. Coins struck during this window are genuinely scarce by circumstance rather than collector mythology — production was not a priority in a court fighting for its own survival.