1/2 Groat - Philip the Handsome, Regency

Philip the Handsome was only four years old when this coin was struck — his father Maximilian of Habsburg governed the Low Countries as regent following the death of Mary of Burgundy in 1482. The regency period was politically fractious; the Flemish cities repeatedly imprisoned Maximilian and extracted concessions from him, making stable monetary policy something of a secondary concern throughout these years.