Écu d'or à la couronne (crowned gold écu)
1385 onward ・ gold ・ 14th century ・ Charles VI and Charles VII
A crowned gold écu, in the line of the gold écu first created by Louis IX. The standard of the gold coinage, thrown into disorder by the debasements of the Hundred Years' War, was set right again by Charles VI and Charles VII. After Joan of Arc lifted the siege of Orléans and brought about the coronation of Charles VII at Reims in 1429, Charles VII issued the écu neuf, the new écu, and put the standard of the gold coinage in order. It is the money of a crowned and legitimate king, the gold of the age that ended the Hundred Years' War with the permanent taille and a standing army.