Gold Rider - Charles III

Charles III ruled Savoy during one of the duchy's most catastrophic periods — caught between the expansionist ambitions of Francis I of France and the Habsburg power of Charles V, he lost nearly the entire duchy to French occupation in 1536 and spent the remaining seventeen years of his reign effectively a pensioner of the Emperor, ruling little more than Piedmont. Coins struck after 1536 were issued from a court in exile, which complicates attribution of later dates within this type's long run.

The "Gold Rider" denomination itself follows a trans-Alpine equestrian coinage tradition with roots in the Burgundian Netherlands.