4 Stivers 'Vlieger / Krabbelaar' - Charles V

The "Vlieger" — literally "kite" — and its companion nickname "Krabbelaar" ("scratcher" or "crawler") refer to the same denomination but distinguish between subtly different die varieties issued across the Antwerp and Maastricht mints during Charles V's long administration of the Low Countries. The coin emerged from a broader monetary ordinance of the 1530s aimed at standardizing Brabantine silver against the flood of foreign imitations degrading regional trade.

Charles ruled Brabant not as Holy Roman Emperor but as Duke, and the distinction mattered administratively — these coins were issued under ducal, not imperial, authority.