Ecu d'Or - Charles VI

Charles VI ruled France for 42 years, but much of that reign was consumed by debilitating episodes of madness — the first struck in 1392 when he attacked his own knights in a forest outside Le Mans, killing four. During his incapacitations, the Burgundian and Armagnac factions fought for regency control, and monetary policy lurched accordingly. Gold coinage was repeatedly debased, recalled, and re-issued as each faction temporarily seized the treasury, making precise attribution within this type's long production window genuinely difficult.

The conflicting references across Friedberg and Duplessis reflect real typological variation across the issue's 35-year span rather than cataloging error.