1 Obol - Ioan Iacob Heraclid

Ioan Iacob Heraclid — known as Despot Vodă — was a Greek adventurer of disputed noble origin who seized the Moldavian throne in 1561 with Habsburg and Protestant backing, then set about transforming the principality along Western humanist lines, founding a Latin academy at Cotnari. His reign lasted barely two years. In late 1563 a boyar revolt led by Ștefan Tomșa cornered him in Suceava; he was killed in November of that year, making this obol among the most short-lived issues in Moldavian numismatic history.