Maille of 4 mites - Philip II

Philip II never set foot in Flanders, yet his administration's grip on the Low Countries monetary system was tight enough that even the smallest copper fractions bore his name through the prolonged agony of the Dutch Revolt. These pieces circulated during the years Parma's Army of Flanders was grinding through its campaign to hold the southern provinces — Ghent had already fallen, Antwerp in 1585, and what remained of Spanish Flanders was economically exhausted, dependent on emergency small change to keep local markets functioning at all.

The maille denomination itself was archaic by this point, a ghost of medieval Flemish monetary structure kept alive by the stubborn persistence of small-transaction demand.