4 Cruzados 'L/IIII-B' - Filipe II

Filipe II of Portugal — Felipe III of Castile — inherited the Portuguese crown in 1598 following the death of his father, whose long regency had already unsettled Lisbon's minting operations. Gold cruzado production during his reign drew on Brazilian and West African sources filtered through an empire increasingly strained by the Dutch assault on Iberian Atlantic trade. The 'L/IIII-B' designation identifies the Lisbon mint with a value mark of four, distinguishing it from concurrent Castilian gold issues that sometimes circulated interchangeably in Iberian commerce.

Gomes references F2 26 and F2 27 represent distinct die varieties within this type.