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4 Maravedis - Charles and Joanna
| Issuer | Crown of Castile |
|---|---|
| Year | 1506-1516 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central field bears two Gothic-style pillars of Hercules surmounted by a royal crown, with the mint marks 'S' and 'P' flanking the columns at the base, all enclosed within a beaded inner circle. The pillars are a heraldic reference to the Columns of Hercules, a dynastic emblem of the Spanish crown. A partial circular legend in Latin runs along the outer periphery of the flan. The strike is typical of colonial hammered coinage, resulting in an irregular planchet with flat areas and natural surface patination. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Charles and Joanna's joint coinage is a constitutional oddity — Joanna (la Loca) was the legitimate heir to Castile, but her mental incapacity allowed Charles to exercise effective regency while her name remained on the coinage as a legal fiction. The pairing persisted on Spanish colonial and peninsular copper well after Joanna's death in 1555, largely because changing the dies would have raised uncomfortable questions about the legitimacy of Charles's rule.
Cal#211 places this among the Cuenca or Burgos issues, where quality control on the copper flans was notoriously inconsistent.