Double Gold Florin - Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne

Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne struck this double florin from his tiny Protestant principality of Sedan at a moment of acute confessional tension in France, just four years after the assassination of Henri IV had shattered Huguenot political confidence. Sedan's mint operated precisely because the principality retained near-sovereign rights under the Edict of Nantes, a privilege Henri exploited aggressively — issuing gold coinage was as much a political statement as a financial one.

The .952 fineness is notably high for a French principality issue of this period, suggesting deliberate alignment with international trade coin standards rather than local circulation needs. Henri would go on to be implicated in the Bouillon conspiracy of 1641; his family's fraught relationship with the French crown shadows the entire Sedan coinage series.