KINGDOM OF SPAIN
JOINT REIGN OF THE CARLOS I (HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR CHARLES V 1519-1556; CARLOS I OF SPAIN 1516-1556) AND HIS MOTHER JUANA "THE MAD" (1504-1555)
HOUSES OF HABSBURG AND TRASTAMÁRA
1535 GOLD ONE ESCUDO (CORONA, DOBLE PRINCIPAT) HAND HAMMERED COB
CERTIFIED BY NGC ABOUT UNCIRCULATED 55
OBV: WITHIN BEADED CIRCLE THE CROWNED AND DIVIDED HABSBURG ARMS OF SPAIN (CASTILE, LEON, ARAGON, GRANADA, NAPLES, SICILY AND JERUSALEM); "S" MINTMARK RIGHT; SURROUNDING LEGEND.
REV: CROSS POTENT WITHIN QUADRILOBE WITH ORNAMENT DIVIDING LOBES ALL WITHIN BEADED CIRCLE AND WITH OUTER ENCIRCLING LEGEND.
FR # 153; CAYON # 348
JOANNA OF CASTILE (1479-1555), DAUGHTER OF KING FERDINAND OF ARAGON (AND NAPLES, SICILY AND SARDINIA) AND QUEEN ISABELLA OF CASTILE (AND LÉON, AND THE LANDS BROUGHT BY THE RECONQUEST OF SPAIN AND ALSO COLUMBUS' VOYAGES), WAS MARRIED TO PHILIP "THE HANDSOME" (1478-1506) WHO WAS DUKE OF BURGUNDY AND SON OF THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN OF AUSTRIA IN 1496.
JUANA FELL IN LOVE WITH PHILIP, BUT UNFORTUNATELY HE WAS A TERRIBLE PHILANDERER, WHOSE EXTRA-MARITAL AFFAIRS DROVE THE POOR QUEEN INSANE.
AFTER HIS DEATH, THEIR ELDEST SON, CHARLES (THE FUTURE EMPEROR), WOULD INHERIT, SUPERCEDING THE RIGHTS OF HIS MOTHER WHO WAS QUITE MAD.
CHARLES SUCCEEDED TO NOT ONLY HIS FATHER'S DOMINIONS BUT ALSO THE SEPARATE CONFEDERATION-LIKE MONARCHIES OF HIS MOTHER, BECOMING THE FIRST KING OF ALL SPAIN. BECAUSE HE HONORED HIS MOTHER, HE WOULD NOT ASSUME HER TITLES WITHOUT HER INCLUSION AS JOINT, IF SILENT, RULER.
AS IS TO BE SEEN IN THE DIVISION OF ARMS ON THE OBVERSE OF THIS COIN, THE LANDS OF CHARLES AND JOANNA WERE VAST, HIS FATHER'S DOMINIONS OF BURGUNDY, FLANDERS AND THE NETHERLANDS BECOMING BONDED WITH SPAIN IN FAMILIAL MONARCHIC UNION.
UPON THE DEATH OF THE EMPEROR MAXIMILLIAN, CHARLES ALSO INHERITED HIS GRANDFATHER'S HABSBURG DOMINIONS AND THEN WORKED TO SECURE THE IMPERIAL CROWN WHICH WOULD MAKE HIM KING OF BOTH GERMANY AND ITALY AS WELL.
IN ADDITION, THE ISLAND OF HISPANIOLA IN THE NEW WORLD BECAME THE SPRINGBOARD FOR CONQUEST BY CHARLES' CONQUISTADORS, BUILDING ONE OF THE GREATEST AND WEALTHIEST OVERSEAS EMPIRES THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN. CORTEZ LANDED IN MEXICO IN 1519 AND PIZARRO WOULD CONQUER THE INCAS JUST THREE YEARS BEFORE THIS COIN WAS STRUCK.
CONTAINS 3.33 GRAMS OF GOLD
21 MM IN DIAMETER
SEVILLE MINT
