Honoré II secured formal recognition of Monegasque sovereignty from Louis XIII in 1641, making him the first to hold the title of Prince of Monaco — and the coins struck under his name in the following decade carry direct political weight as a result. The double tournois was a French monetary type adopted wholesale by Monaco, a practical necessity for a principality whose economy was inseparable from its larger neighbor. By 1653, Honoré II was in the final year of his reign, having ruled for over five decades.
Honoré II secured formal recognition of Monegasque sovereignty from Louis XIII in 1641, making him the first to hold the title of Prince of Monaco — and the coins struck under his name in the following decade carry direct political weight as a result. The double tournois was a French monetary type adopted wholesale by Monaco, a practical necessity for a principality whose economy was inseparable from its larger neighbor. By 1653, Honoré II was in the final year of his reign, having ruled for over five decades.