Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Enrique - Enrique IV Toledo
| Issuer | Castile and Leon, Kingdom of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1455-1471 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Quartered coat of arms divided by a plain cross into four quarters, alternating castles and rampant lions, representing the kingdoms of Castile and León respectively. The castles are depicted as three-towered fortifications and the lions as passant rampant heraldic beasts, all rendered in the bold relief characteristic of Castilian Gothic hammered gold coinage. A circular Latin legend runs around the periphery of the coin, invoking the king's title and divine right to rule. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (1455-1471) |
| Additional information |
Enrique IV's half-enrique belongs to one of the most monetarily chaotic reigns in Castilian history. The king debased the coinage so aggressively — flooding circulation with base-metal issues — that the nobility and merchant class eventually organized the so-called "Farce of Ávila" in 1465, symbolically deposing a straw effigy of the king and demanding fiscal reform. Gold denominations like this piece survived the debasement crisis largely intact in fineness, but the broader loss of confidence in the crown's monetary authority drove exchange rates into disorder throughout the 1460s.
Toledo's output during this period is distinguished within the series by its mint mark placement, a detail that matters when reconciling specimens against Álvarez Burgos's classification.