Enrique II issued this billon cruzado in the immediate aftermath of his seizure of the Castilian throne — achieved not through inheritance but through the murder of his half-brother Pedro I at Montiel in March 1369. The cruzado series was part of a deliberate monetary overhaul meant to distinguish his regime from Pedro's coinage and consolidate legitimacy through sheer monetary presence. Enrique's early issues are notably inconsistent in fabric, a direct consequence of minting operations resuming under wartime conditions across multiple Castilian workshops simultaneously.
Enrique II issued this billon cruzado in the immediate aftermath of his seizure of the Castilian throne — achieved not through inheritance but through the murder of his half-brother Pedro I at Montiel in March 1369. The cruzado series was part of a deliberate monetary overhaul meant to distinguish his regime from Pedro's coinage and consolidate legitimacy through sheer monetary presence. Enrique's early issues are notably inconsistent in fabric, a direct consequence of minting operations resuming under wartime conditions across multiple Castilian workshops simultaneously.