4 Cruzados 'IIII-L' or 'L-IIII' - Filipe II

Filipe II of Portugal — Philip III of Spain — inherited the Portuguese crown in 1598 following the death of his father, whose own reign had begun with the controversial annexation of 1580. The IIII-L and L-IIII die pairings referenced in Gomes reflect workshop variation at the Lisbon mint rather than any deliberate policy distinction; collectors have long debated whether the transposed arrangement carries chronological significance, but no conclusive sequencing has been established.

Gold of this fineness was sourced substantially from Brazilian and West African trade flows still routed through Lisbon despite the pressures of the Iberian Union on Portuguese commercial autonomy.