1/2 Groat - Philip III bust Philip II

Philip III of Spain inherited the Aragonese composite monarchy — Catalonia included — upon his father's death in 1598, but Catalan institutional resistance meant the new king had to confirm the region's privileges before coinage in his name could proceed. The continuation of Philip II's bust type on early Philip III issues was not an oversight; it reflected deliberate conservatism by the Barcelona mint, where die cutters frequently recycled portrait punches across reigns to satisfy local demand quickly.

Cal#526 is among the scarcer attributions in the Calicó series for this reign, largely because half-groat denominations circulated hard and survived poorly.