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 - Philip IV
| Issuer | Spain |
|---|---|
| Year | 1658 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 4 Maravedis (2⁄17) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Central crowned royal cypher 'PHLVS' (Philip) set within an octolobe cartouche, flanked by the aqueduct of Segovia to the left and the Roman numeral value IIII to the right. The entire motif is encircled by a decorative wreath, itself enclosed within a beaded border. The design is crisp and mechanical in character, consistent with roller-milled production technique. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | PHLVS IIII (Translation: Philip) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
By 1658, Castile's copper coinage was in a state of managed chaos. Philip IV's government had spent decades countermarking, reselling, and revaluing its own vellón currency to extract emergency revenue from an exhausted monetary system — each revaluation eroding public confidence further. The 1658 issues emerged just three years after a catastrophic deflation decree had halved the face value of circulating copper, a measure so damaging to ordinary commerce that it triggered riots in several Castilian cities.
Calicó 1546 places this piece within the Madrid mint sequence, where quality control was a persistent problem throughout the decade.