Enrique IV's cuartillos are inseparable from the monetary chaos that defined his reign. By the late 1460s, unauthorized mints had proliferated across Castile to such a degree that the crown itself could no longer account for all the dies in circulation. The Toro mint was among the authorized houses, but the broader debasement crisis had already destroyed public confidence in billon coinage — merchants in many towns were simply refusing to accept it at face value.
The reforms of 1471 attempted to claw back control, making this a transitional issue caught between two monetary regimes.
Enrique IV's cuartillos are inseparable from the monetary chaos that defined his reign. By the late 1460s, unauthorized mints had proliferated across Castile to such a degree that the crown itself could no longer account for all the dies in circulation. The Toro mint was among the authorized houses, but the broader debasement crisis had already destroyed public confidence in billon coinage — merchants in many towns were simply refusing to accept it at face value.
The reforms of 1471 attempted to claw back control, making this a transitional issue caught between two monetary regimes.