James II ruled Catalonia while simultaneously pressing his claim to Sicily and later negotiating the Treaty of Anagni in 1295, by which he relinquished that island to the Papacy in exchange for papal support for his acquisition of Sardinia and Corsica — a territorial swap that dominated his reign's political energy. The Barcelona mint continued producing billon deniers throughout these decades of dynastic maneuvering essentially unchanged in type, a monetary conservatism typical of the Crown of Aragon's Catalan issues.
Cru#342 specimens from this long reign show considerable variation in flan quality and die alignment, a consequence of hand production across nearly four decades.
James II ruled Catalonia while simultaneously pressing his claim to Sicily and later negotiating the Treaty of Anagni in 1295, by which he relinquished that island to the Papacy in exchange for papal support for his acquisition of Sardinia and Corsica — a territorial swap that dominated his reign's political energy. The Barcelona mint continued producing billon deniers throughout these decades of dynastic maneuvering essentially unchanged in type, a monetary conservatism typical of the Crown of Aragon's Catalan issues.
Cru#342 specimens from this long reign show considerable variation in flan quality and die alignment, a consequence of hand production across nearly four decades.