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Écu d'or à la chaise - Jean II
| Issuer | France |
|---|---|
| Year | 1351 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Gold (.875) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | + IOHANNES: DEI° - °°GRA°° - FRANCORVM: REX |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Jean II introduced this coin in December 1350, just months after inheriting a kingdom financially gutted by the Hundred Years' War and still reeling from the Black Death, which had killed roughly a third of the French population in the preceding two years. The weight standard was set at 4.5g partly to restore confidence in royal coinage after his father Philippe VI's repeated and deeply unpopular debasements, which had so eroded trust that merchants across northern France were refusing French gold outright.
Jean's monetary reforms proved short-lived. The catastrophe at Poitiers in 1356 — where he was captured by Edward the Black Prince — forced another round of debasements to fund his ransom of three million écus d'or.