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Obol - Andrew II
| Issuer | Hungary |
|---|---|
| Year | 1205-1235 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Obol (Obulus) (1/2) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Two large crowned heads facing one another in profile, their crowns nearly touching at the center of the field. Above the heads, a crescent flanked by a small circle and a cross-pattée star are arranged in the upper field. The entire design is enclosed within a beaded border. The style is characteristic of medieval Hungarian hammered coinage, with bold, stylized portraiture typical of the Árpád dynasty period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Andrew II's reign was defined less by monetary policy than by the chaos surrounding it — his 1222 Golden Bull, extracted by rebellious nobles, functionally curtailed royal prerogative in ways that shaped Hungarian constitutional tradition for centuries. Small silver fractions like this obol bore the brunt of the period's fiscal instability, as Andrew repeatedly debased the coinage to fund his disastrous Fifth Crusade campaign of 1217-1218 and his territorial ambitions in Halych. The annual renewal of mint leases to foreign contractors — Jews and Ishmaelites, by contemporary chronicle accounts — was explicitly restricted by the Golden Bull's clauses.