Alfonso XI struck the original dobla during the mid-fourteenth century, a period when Castilian gold coinage was being deliberately shaped to compete with the prestige of Florentine and French issues circulating across Iberia. The Battle of Río Salado in 1340 — the first major defeat of a Marinid crossing into the peninsula — brought Alfonso significant tribute revenue, fueling exactly the kind of royal mint activity that produced pieces like this one.
The Seville mint was the dominant gold-striking facility in medieval Castile, its output tied closely to Andalusian trade networks and trans-Saharan gold flowing through North African intermediaries.
Alfonso XI struck the original dobla during the mid-fourteenth century, a period when Castilian gold coinage was being deliberately shaped to compete with the prestige of Florentine and French issues circulating across Iberia. The Battle of Río Salado in 1340 — the first major defeat of a Marinid crossing into the peninsula — brought Alfonso significant tribute revenue, fueling exactly the kind of royal mint activity that produced pieces like this one.
The Seville mint was the dominant gold-striking facility in medieval Castile, its output tied closely to Andalusian trade networks and trans-Saharan gold flowing through North African intermediaries.