2 Escudos - Felipe III Segovia

Felipe III inherited the Spanish throne in 1598 and almost immediately delegated monetary administration to the Duke of Lerma, whose influence over royal finances was as total as his grip on the king himself. The Segovia mint, powered by water-driven machinery installed under Felipe II, was the most technically sophisticated in Castile and produced noticeably rounder, more evenly struck gold than the hand-hammered output coming out of Toledo or Seville during the same years.

The four-year window this piece falls within coincides with the expulsion edicts against the Moriscos, a decision with real fiscal consequences — the loss of agricultural labor disrupted regional tax yields and added pressure to crown debt already strained by the 1607 bankruptcy declaration.