1 Groschen - Stephen IV Type Ib

Stephen IV of Moldavia — known as Ștefăniță, "little Stephen" — came to power at roughly fourteen years old following the assassination of Bogdan III, his father. His decade of rule was marked by chronic instability, Ottoman pressure, and a brief period of Polish suzerainty. Billon coinage of this reign reflects a treasury under strain; the alloy degradation visible across Type Ib issues is consistent with a principality managing tribute obligations to the Porte while maintaining the administrative fiction of an independent mint.