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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 

Early Issue of the Catalan Revolt

454, Lot: 536. Estimate $150.
Sold for $280. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SPAIN, Reino de España. Felipe IV el Grande. 1621-1665. AR 5 Reales (30mm, 11.73 g, 8h). Catalan Revolt issue. Barcelona mint. Dated 1641. Crowned Catalan coat-of-arms; ·/V/· and ·/R/· flanking shield / Long ross pattée; annulets and triple pellets in opposite quarters. ME 6452; NE 18; KM 19. Toned, light deposits, cleaning marks. Near VF for type. Rare.


The province of Catalonia always had a strained relationship with the crown at Madrid. In 1640 an attempt by Philip, through his favorite, Gaspar de Guzmán, Count-Duke of Olivares, to restrict local authority and increase wartime taxation, led to a full blown revolt. The Catalans at first kept the name of the Spanish monarch on their autonomous coinage, but soon changed it to the "Principality of Catalonia". Later in 1641 the Catalans accepted the protection of Louis XIII of France, and coins were struck in his name over a three year period. The conflict continued until 1652, when Barcelona fell to the Spaniards, and a permanent settlement was reached between Spain and France in 1659, ending the revolt.