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Obol - Béla IV
| Issuer | Hungary |
|---|---|
| Year | 1235-1270 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Frontal bust of a crowned king within a plain circle, depicted in a highly stylized manner characteristic of medieval Hungarian bracteate-influenced coinage. The monarch is shown wearing a crown and draped garments, with two small cross pattée symbols flanking the figure on either side in the field. No legend is present. The crude but expressive engraving style reflects the hammered coinage tradition of thirteenth-century Hungary. |
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| Reverse description | An eagle displayed to the right in a heraldic posture, with head turned sinister and a pearl or dotted glory encircling the head, all contained within a pearl border. The eagle's wings are spread and its talons are visible, rendered in a bold, schematic style typical of Árpád-era Hungarian coinage. No inscription is present on this side. |
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| Additional information |
Béla IV's reign was defined almost entirely by the Mongol invasion of 1241–42, which depopulated large swaths of Hungary and forced the king to flee to Dalmatia. The reconstruction effort that followed reshaped Hungarian coinage administration, with minting rights increasingly delegated to regional authorities — a decentralization that accounts for the considerable die variation seen across issues attributed to this reign.
At 0.19 g, these obols were among the smallest silver denominations in circulation and were frequently lost rather than hoarded, which explains why surviving examples in clean condition are scarcer than the broader Béla IV series suggests.