Lot 823
Spain -- Houses of Castille & Leon. Gold 1 Enrique, ND (Seville). Fr-116; Cayon-1452 var. 4.59 grams. Enrique IV, the Weak, 1454-1474. King enthroned facing, holding upright sword. Reverse: Quartered arms of Castille and Leon. Reverse legend variant, not listed in Cayon as being associated with obverse legend. Crisp, even strike in attractive style, on a full flan showing all the letters of the legends in detail, and a sharply impressed central portrait. Rare, moreso in this exceptional state of preservation. NGC graded MS-63.
Enrique (Henry), son of Juan II of Castile and Maria of Aragon, a weak and dissolute ruler, in 1440 married Blanca of Navarre but their union ended because he was unable to father children. The paternity of a daughter (Juana) born during his second marriage to Juana of Portugal was questioned; she was considered to be the fruit of an adulterous relationship between the queen and Beltran de la Cueva, and the populace refused to accept her accession to the throne. Isabel, sister to the king, was named as his successor.
Isabel married Ferdinand of Aragon and they reigned as joint sovereigns (her kingdom of Castile was, after all, bigger than his kingdom of Aragon). They became Spain's most famous rulers because of their patronage of Columbus and their re-conquest of Granada from the Moors. The fact that they also expelled all the Jews from their kingdoms in 1492 is not mentioned as often.
Estimated Value $5,000 - 6,000.
Illustrated in Money of The World, coin 81.
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| Realized $11,213 |
