An Issue from the Reconquista

425, Lot: 724. Estimate $75. Sold for $50. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SPAIN, Castile & León. Alfonso XI el Justiciero (the Just). 1312-1350. BI Noven (9 Dineros) (19mm, 0.78 g, 3h). Seville mint. AL DI GRA REX CASTEL, three-towered castle façade; S in exergue / AL DI GRA REX LEGIO, crowned rampant lion left. ME 1270; Heiss –; BBP 309. VF, toned.

From the BRN Collection, purchased from Andy Singer, March 2012.

ME notes that this issue was struck during the siege of Tarifa (September-October 1340), a pivotal event at the end of the Reconquista. The siege ended after the decisive battle of Rio Salado, where the combined forces of Alfonso XI of Castile and Alfonso IV of Portugal routed the Marinids, who were forced to withdraw from the Iberian Peninsula.