1/2 Groschen - Stephen III Type IIa

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.