Lot 825
Spain. Gold 2 Excelentes, ND (Seville, after 1497). Fr-129; Clemente & Cayon-2776. 14.00 grams. Ferdinand V & Isabel I, 1476-1504. "Los Reyes Catolicos," Crowned and draped busts of Ferdinand & Isabel facing each other; "X" symbol above; between them, "S". Reverse: Crowned arms of Spain, borne by nimbate eagle behind. A wonderfully even strike, with the symbols crisp, the legends sharp right to the distinct rims, the portraits also bold, with the metal lustrous and unusually fine. All in all, a fabulous example of this classic piece! NGC graded MS-63.
In 1469, Princess Isabel of Castille married Prince Ferdinand of Aragon, and when they ascended their respective thrones, a decade later in 1479, their union led to the most powerful confederation of Christian kingdoms on the Iberian peninsula.
The rather unusual state of their political relationship is clearly depicted in their numismatic portraits -- their marriage or "union" depicted as a regal "embrace" by these images of the royal couple that were engendered in the court's minting workshops. The royal couple are always shown in profile, face to face, in order to emphasize the strict equality of their powers. Traditionally a queen would be behind her husband, and facing the same direction. However, in this situation, Isabel's inherited kingdom was far and away the larger and more powerful of the two territories, and so it compensated for her secondary status as a woman. In fact, Isabel expressly stipulated in her marriage contract that this was the design to be used on their coinage, which obviously was agreed to by Ferdinand, as evidenced by the extant examples of their coinage. Here is one of the finest examples to be found.
Estimated Value $4,000 - 5,000.
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| Realized $6,613 |
