Double tournois - Jean II

Jean II inherited a kingdom already financially exhausted by the Hundred Years' War, and his monetary policy lurched between repeated debasements and short-lived currency reforms. The double tournois of his reign was produced under conditions of near-constant monetary instability — Jean's administration issued dozens of distinct ordonnances adjusting coin weights and fineness between 1350 and 1364, making consistent production essentially impossible. His capture at Poitiers in 1356 and subsequent imprisonment in England compounded the crisis, as the enormous ransom demand of three million gold écus forced yet further debasement of the billon coinage to generate revenue.