Usually the dineros of Pedro de Aragon/"el de Huesca" are quite in bad shape -- bad metal, bad strike or hard wear. This one of Aureo & Calico is quite an exception: Specs: AR17mm 1.06g, dinero vellon, minted at Jaca or Huesca(?) cca. 1095-1100. Peter was a warrior king, heavily involved in the Spanish Reconquista. He fought and won alongside Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (El Cid) at Bairen in 1095. That same year he conquered Huesca, added it to his domains, and became known as „El de Huesca.” In 1098 he married Maria Rodriguez, one of the daughters of Rodrigo El Cid. In 1101 he styled his own campaign against the muslim Zaragoza taifa after the First Crusade in the Holy Land and lead an army of Catalonian and Frankish knights conquering territories as far as the walls of Zaragoza and Tudela, enlarging the kingdoms of Aragon and Navarra. After this campaign he was also referred to as Crucifer (cross-bearer). This type is a continuation of the Aragonese dinero of Sancho Ramirez. As Pedro moved his capital from Jaca to Huesca in 1097, it is possible that his coinage (including this specimen) was minted there after 1097. The dineros minted under his name are rather scarce.
Great coin, very interesting historical lesson. Here is one of my Spanish coins. AV Ducato ND Valencia Mint Fernando II of Aragon struck circa 1504
Two dineros from the height of the Reconquista. Although very well represented in private and public collections, one does not see the coins of Sancho Ramirez of Aragon (and Navarre) offered too often in auctions, and that is taking into account the Spanish dealers and auctioneers. But to keep with the topic of the Reconquista, here is a dinero jaques for Sancho Ramirez, Pedro's father and King of Aragon and Pamplona-Navarre: AR17mm, 0.98g, dinero jaques de vellon, minted at Jaca, after 1076 or very likely cca. 1090-1094. SANCIVS . RЄX; bare-headed bust left ARA - GON; Cross above tree, flanked by crescent to the left and pellet to the right. Crusafont 202. In 1076 with the accession to the throne of Navarre, Sancho Ramirez calls himself "Rex Aragonensium et Pampilonensium" and starts minting the first coins of Aragon and Navarre, in order to celebrate and manifest his power and prestige as a Christian sovereign. During his reign he continuously tried to expand his territory, even at the expense of fellow Christian rulers, which put him at odds with Rodrigo El Cid in the early 1080s. He died during a campaign of conquest in 1094, under the walls of Huesca. This particular specimen seems to be of a later debased issue, possibly in the late 1080s early 1090s. It was preserved by the collector in its original uncleaned condition.
