Double Tournois - Charles I 17th type

Charleville was founded in 1606 by Charles de Gonzague, Duke of Nevers, who established it as a planned Renaissance city on the Meuse — and crucially, as a sovereign principality whose mint could strike coinage independent of French royal authority. By the 1630s that arrangement was increasingly precarious, as Richelieu systematically pressured semi-sovereign enclaves within French territory. The 17th type classification in the Double Tournois series reflects how frequently Charles I revised his coinage types, a pattern driven partly by royal French edicts forcing periodic design updates on all mints operating under French monetary ordinances.

The principality's mint was suppressed in 1642, making 1636 issues late products of a coinage authority with fewer than six years remaining.