Denier Tournois - Henri III Dauphiné, Type A, Z on obverse

Henri III's Dauphiné coinage of the 1580s was minted under the provincial monetary administration of the Dauphiné, a territory with its own distinct minting traditions absorbed into the French crown only in 1349. The "Z" on the obverse identifies the Grenoble mint — an unusual alphabetical attribution system used in French provincial coinage where letters were assigned to mints by royal ordonnance rather than following geographic logic.

By 1585, Henri III was fighting both the Catholic League and the Protestant forces simultaneously, and the financial strain on the crown was acute. Copper deniers tournois from this period circulated hard in provincial markets and survivors in collectible condition are genuinely scarce.