Spain (1566)-B cuartillo

Stephen Album internet sale 28, lot 1166

This specimen was lot 1166 in Stephen Album internet sale 28 (Santa Rosa, CA, July 2024), where it sold for $54. The catalog description^[1] noted, "SPAIN: Felipe II, 1556-1598, BI cuartillo, Burgos, castle with B below, crescent to either side // lion, XF." This specimen is a Spanish quarter real struck at Burgos (shown here), Cuenca, Granada, Segovia, Toledo and Valladolid in 1566. As thirty four maravedis made a real, this coin was worth 8½ maravedis. It was made from vellon (debased silver) and this specimen has preserved some of its silvering. Many varieties exist (crescent to the left, crescent to the right, crescent on both sides, "B" bracketed by dots, etc.), suggesting a substantial production.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: billon, this specimen 2.57 g.

Catalog reference: Calicó-78, Cayón-3350.

Source:

• Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
• Calicó, Xavier, Numismática Española: Catálogo General con Precios de Todas las Monedas Españolas Acuñadas desde Los Reyes Católicos Hasta Felipe VI, 1474 a 2020, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2019.
• ^[1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Internet Auction 28, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.

Link to:

• (1552-66)-C 4 maravedis, struck in the name of Fernando and Isabel
• (1566)-G cuartillo
• (1566-89)-G A 4 reales
• (1566-88)-A^O 4 reales, Valladolid mint
• (1566-88)-A^O 8 reales, Valladolid mint
• Coins and currency dated 1566
• return to Spanish pre-decimal coinage (maravedis, reales and escudos)