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1/2 Real - Enrique IV Seville
| Issuer | Kingdom of Castile and Leon |
|---|---|
| Year | 1471-1474 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Quartered coat of arms divided by a bold Greek cross into four quadrants: the first and fourth quadrants each display a turreted castle representing Castile, while the second and third quadrants each bear a passant lion rampant representing Leon, all rendered in the Gothic hammered style characteristic of late 15th-century Castilian coinage. The quadrants are separated by a plain cross with a beaded inner circle. A Latin circumferential legend, partially obscured by the irregular flan, surrounds the design. The mint mark of Seville appears in the lower portion of the field. |
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| Additional information |
Enrique IV's later coinage is inseparable from the monetary catastrophe he created. Decades of debasing the vellón coinage to fund his wars and his court had so thoroughly destroyed public confidence that by 1471 silver fractional pieces like this were being hoarded on contact — they were simply too trustworthy to spend. The Ordenamiento of 1471 was a belated attempt to stabilize the currency, and the Seville mint's output under that reform is what this piece belongs to.
Seville's assayers during this window were working under direct pressure from the Crown, with quality controls tightened after years of unauthorized debasement at provincial mints.