Enrique IV's billon coinage is notorious among Castilian specialists for the monetary chaos that defined his reign — multiple unauthorized mints operated openly, debasement was chronic, and the crown's repeated attempts to reform the coinage were undermined almost immediately by the same nobles and mint operators the king depended on politically. The "Romanesque A" designation distinguishes this die variety by the form of the letter in the mint mark, a detail that matters here precisely because so many mints were striking cuartillos simultaneously with little central oversight.
By 1471 the silver content had fallen so drastically that contemporaries were refusing royal coin outright in some markets.
Enrique IV's billon coinage is notorious among Castilian specialists for the monetary chaos that defined his reign — multiple unauthorized mints operated openly, debasement was chronic, and the crown's repeated attempts to reform the coinage were undermined almost immediately by the same nobles and mint operators the king depended on politically. The "Romanesque A" designation distinguishes this die variety by the form of the letter in the mint mark, a detail that matters here precisely because so many mints were striking cuartillos simultaneously with little central oversight.
By 1471 the silver content had fallen so drastically that contemporaries were refusing royal coin outright in some markets.