5 Groats Vic,cross

The 1641 date places this coin squarely within the Reapers' War — the Catalan revolt against Philip IV of Spain that erupted that same year. Facing a Castilian army and desperate for legitimacy, the Catalan government placed itself under French protection in January 1641, recognizing Louis XIII as Count of Barcelona. Coinage issued under the Principality during this period reflects that brief, uneasy French suzerainty rather than Castilian authority — a numismatic artifact of a rebellion that would not be fully suppressed until 1652.