In 1385, Charles VI introduced so-called secret dots to identify the mint where a particular coin was struck. On the obverse and/or reverse of a coin, a dot was placed under one of the letters of the legend. The ordinal number of the letter, counting from the beginning of the legend, indicated the mint. This system worked until the time of Francis I, who in 1540 introduced a much simpler system by assigning each mint its own mark. The use of secret dots continued alongside the mint letter for some time, which is why we still encounter them quite often on the coins of Henry de Valois, as exemplified by this half-franc.
Mint of Poitiers: the letter G at the bottom of the obverse and a dot under the 8th letter of the obverse.
Type with the date in the rim, on the side with the cross.
