Enrique II's earliest coinage as king was minted under immediate political pressure — he had seized the throne by killing his half-brother Pedro I at Montiel in March 1369, and legitimizing his rule through visible, circulating coinage was an urgent priority. The Seville mint, one of the most active in Castile, was put to work quickly. These first issues predate the monetary reforms Enrique would impose later in his reign, making them distinct from the more regularized billon coinage that followed 1373.
Enrique II's earliest coinage as king was minted under immediate political pressure — he had seized the throne by killing his half-brother Pedro I at Montiel in March 1369, and legitimizing his rule through visible, circulating coinage was an urgent priority. The Seville mint, one of the most active in Castile, was put to work quickly. These first issues predate the monetary reforms Enrique would impose later in his reign, making them distinct from the more regularized billon coinage that followed 1373.