Lot 822
Spain -- Houses of Castille & Leon. Gold Dobla de la Banda, ND (Seville). Fr-112; Cayon-1428. 4.60 grams. Juan II, 1405-1454. Shield with ornamented diagonal band, held in the mouths of two lions. Reverse: Quartered arms of Castille and Leon. Much better than typical strike, on a real nice, broad flan, showing all important details. A few faint handling marks, otherwise as struck. Scarce. NGC graded MS-64.
Medieval Iberia was made up of a patchwork of kingdoms, with Castile and Aragon being the major powers. Juan II inherited Castile, the largest kingdom on the peninsula, as well as the smaller kingdom of Leon, to the northwest of Castile. His uncle Ferdinand, who, with Juan's mother, served as regent until he came of age, was named King of Aragon in 1412. Both Aragon and Navarre were fierce rivals of Castile, while Portugal and France allied themselves with Castile. The defeat of Aragon and Navarre in the battle of Olmedo was the high point of Juan's reign, but his greatest claim to fame is probably that he was the father of Isabella (by his second wife, Isabel of Portugal), whose marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon (in 1469) and their accession to their respective thrones (in 1479) united the two powerful kingdoms and formed the basis of modern Spain.
Estimated Value $1,500 - 2,000.
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| Realized $4,600 |
