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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;talerman, post: 7738509, member: 89314&quot;]It is definitely Henri III. POL in the obverse legend is the proof. As ambrOzie says, he was the only French king who was also king of Poland. As the fourth son of Henri II, he did not expect to inherit the French throne and therefore threw his hat into the election of the king in Poland. The king was elected by the nobles and bribery was a big part of every election. Henri was elected in May 1573 at the age of 21. However, his first two brothers François II (King 1550-60) and Louis died at the age of 16 and 1 year 8 months respectively. Then the third brother, Charles IX, who succeeded to the throne in 1560, unexpectedly died of tuberculosis in 1574. As soon as Henri received the news, he secretly fled Poland, abandoning his new kingdom after a reign of 118 days, and returned to France.&nbsp; In 1576 the Poles finally elected a successor, Stefan Bathory of Transylvania, but Henri continued to use the title of King of Poland for the rest of his life. </p><p><br /></p><p>The only complication about an Henri III coin with an illegible date is that some were struck after his assassination in August 1589, thus in the reign of Henri IV, including perhaps 1/8 ecu in 1589 or 1590. They are very rare. The only example of a 1590 1/8 ecu definitely known has the L (= Bayonne) mintmark, although there are unverified references to others. I have difficulty in seeing the mm on your coin but you say it is Nantes (T). Nantes minted your type (with the cross on the obverse with the royal title) in every year from 1578 to 1589.&nbsp; In 1590 Nantes was in the hands of supporters of the rival Catholic candidate to the throne Charles X and struck coins in his name so there would definitely be no Henri III coins struck there that year.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Here is one from 1578, minted in La Rochelle (H):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1325107[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1325108[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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