Obol - Andrew II

Andrew II's reign was defined less by monetary policy than by chronic fiscal crisis. To fund his disastrous Fifth Crusade of 1217-1221 and the lavish land grants he handed to his barons — what contemporaries called the "new institutions" — he systematically debased the royal coinage and leased mint operations to foreign financiers, including Jewish and Muslim merchants, a practice that scandalized the Hungarian church and ultimately forced his hand in issuing the Golden Bull of 1222. The obol, as the smallest circulating denomination, bore the brunt of public suspicion during repeated recoinage edicts.