Charles VII (1422-1461). Gold Ecu d'or neuf a la couronne, undated. Crowned arms of France flanked by two crowned fleurs de lis. Rev. Floriated cross in quadrilobe, a crown in each angle (Fr 307; Ciani 633). In NGC holder graded MS 63. Value $1,500 - UP
The kingdom of France seemed all but lost to Charles VII, the son of Charles VI. In 1420, his father had disinherited him in order to conclude a shameful peace settlement with the English, and by 1422 much of the French kingdom was in the hands of the English king Henry V, who claimed the title of King of France, or convulsed by a civil war between supporters of the house of Valois and a pro-English Burgundian party. Driven out of Paris, Charles VII was forced to establish his court at Bourges where he considered himself the true King of France, but many derisively referred to him only as "the King of Bourges" since his power did not extend much beyond the walls of the fortified city. This pathetic situation drastically changed in 1429 upon the arrival of Joan of Arc, a peasant girl from Domremy claiming to have had visions from God. She was permitted to lead the French forces against the English who were besieging Orléans and won a spectacular victory. This triumph inspired Charles VII to press the sudden advantage and allowed him to push back the English and have himself crowned at Riems Cathedral in opposition to Henry VI. A new alliance with Philippe the Good of Burgundy in 1435 destroyed any air of legitimacy that Henry VI had as King of France and Charles VII spent the next two decades driving the English out of the kingdom. By the time of Charles' death in 1458, the only remaining English possession was Calais. The long bloodshed of the Hundred Years' War had finally come to an end and France was poised to rise as a great European power.

The present variety of écu is popularly known as an écu d'or neuf à la couronne ("new gold écu with the crown"). It is à la couronne because of the crowns that appear in the angles of the cross on the reverse and neuf ("new") because it reversed a trend of gold debasement for the French écu that had taken place between 1424 and 1429-the nadir of Charles VII's fortunes in the Hundred Years' War. In 1424 the purity of the écu dropped from 24 to 23 carats and continued to fall until 1429 when it was only 18 carats. However, in 1436 the écu d'or neuf was introduced as the English were losing their hold on France and Charles VII felt secure enough to restore the original purity of the gold coinage to 24 carats.
Ex Terner Collection by Private Treaty.