Obol - Henry I

Henry I here is Henry II of England, who held Aquitaine through his marriage to Eleanor in 1152 and styled himself duke in right of his wife. The obol denomination — half a denier — served the smallest everyday transactions, and Aquitainian billon issues of this period are notoriously variable in silver content, reflecting the chronic debasement that plagued feudal French coinage throughout the twelfth century. Eleanor's eventual imprisonment in 1173 effectively ended Henry's uncontested control of the duchy.