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1/2 Groschen - Stephen III Type IIa
| Issuer | Moldavia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1457-1504 |
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| Currency | Groschen (1375-1665) |
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| Obverse description | Central shield bearing a double cross, flanked by a crescent on the left and a rosette on the right. The design is rendered in the crude but vigorous style characteristic of medieval Moldavian hammered coinage. The shield occupies the majority of the flan, with heraldic devices positioned in the open field on either side. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (1457-1504) |
| Additional information |
Stephen III — known to Romanian historiography as Stephen the Great — ruled Moldavia for 47 years and fought roughly 36 major military engagements, most of them against Ottoman, Polish, or Hungarian forces. His coinage was reorganized multiple times across that reign, and the Type IIa classification within the half-groschen series reflects one of those administrative reissues, likely tied to the need to finance sustained military campaigns rather than any single monetary reform.
At 0.33 g, these circulated hard and survived poorly. The pontifical recognition Stephen received from Pope Sixtus IV in 1475 — calling him "Athlete of Christ" after the Battle of Vaslui — did nothing to stabilize his treasury.