Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Groat - James II Barcelona
| Issuer | Catalonia, Principality of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1291-1327 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Libra |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Crowned royal effigy facing left, depicted as a draped bust with a prominent crown, enclosed within two concentric beaded circles. The king's portrait is rendered in a bold, archaic hammered style typical of medieval Catalan coinage. A circular Latin legend runs between the inner and outer beaded borders, identifying the monarch by name and divine authority. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A bold central long cross extends to the beaded inner circle, dividing the reverse field into four quarters. An annulet appears in the second and third angles, while three bezants are arranged in the first and fourth angles, a heraldic device characteristic of Barcelona municipal coinage. A circular Latin legend naming the city of Barcelona runs between the inner and outer beaded borders, framing the entire design. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
James II ruled Catalonia — and simultaneously the Crown of Aragon — during a period of aggressive Mediterranean expansion, including the contested acquisition of Sicily and the extraordinary Aragonese Company's campaigns into Byzantine territory. The Barcelona groat emerged from this reign as part of a deliberate monetary modernization, modeled on the Venetian grosso and French gros tournois that were reshaping European silver coinage in the late thirteenth century. Catalonia's commercial network, anchored in Barcelona and stretching across the western Mediterranean, demanded a heavier, reliable silver denomination that petty billon could not support.
The .958 fineness held with unusual consistency through this reign — a point of mercantile trust that distinguished Barcelonan issues from contemporaries who debased quietly.