Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
4 Maravedis - Joanna and Charles I Countermarked star
| Issuer | Canary Islands |
|---|---|
| Year | 1542-1564 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 4.33 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A rampant lion passant to the left occupies the central field, rendered in the bold, somewhat crude style typical of early colonial hammered copper coinage. The lion is depicted with raised forepaw and open mouth. A partial circular legend surrounds the device on the irregular flan, reading KAROLVS QVINTVS INDIARVM REX, though much of the inscription is lost at the flan's margins due to the irregular striking. The surface shows the characteristic wear and patina of a coin that circulated extensively in the Canary Islands. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Canary Islands received no dedicated mint of their own during the Habsburg period. Chronic small-change shortages on the islands led local authorities to counterstamp existing Castilian copper — in this case, maravedís of Joanna and Charles already decades old by the time the star punch was applied. The countermark legitimized continued circulation at a revalued rate, a makeshift solution that was repeated across Spanish colonial territories wherever official supply couldn't keep pace with demand.
The star counterstamp program ran across a 22-year window, so attribution of individual pieces to a specific year is generally impossible.