AR Cornado of Sancho IV "El Bravo" King of Castille, Leon and Gallicia

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Sallent, Aug 26, 2016.

  1. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Yay, after adding some medieval Islamic coins that would have circulated in Spain, I finally acquired my first medieval Spanish Christian coin. It is an AR Cornado minted beetween 1284 and 1295 AD in the Cuenca Mint, which was located in central Spain in the northwest of Castille.

    Sancho IV El Bravo AR Coronado.jpg

    Sancho IV “The Brave” 1284-1295.
    AR Cornado.
    Cuenca mint.
    SANCII REX, Crowned bust left. /
    CASTELLE LEGIONIS, Castle, bowl to left and star to right.
    Cayon 1185

    The coin is of a king with a cool nickname. Sancho El Bravo (the brave). So How did Sancho IV become Sancho El Bravo? It's a neat story. Sancho's brother Juan, Lord of Valencia de Campos, was not thrilled that Sancho had staged a coup at the time of their father's death. This uprising resulted in the usurpation of the crown from their young nephew, Alfonso de la Cerda, who was the rightful heir to the throne.

    Juan was so displeased that he rounded some lords and decided to stage a civil war to defend his nephew's rights. Unfortunately for Juan, Sancho proved to be a ruthless king and executed 4,400 followers of their nephew Alfonso, and lobbed a few nobles' heads off. However, Sancho pardoned his treacherous brother Juan and let him go in peace.

    But Juan was still fuming over the usurpation of his nephew's crown by his brother Sancho, and went to North Africa and called on the Marinid Dynasty in Northern Morocco to invade Iberia. Together with the Sultan of the Marinids, Juan marched at the head of an Islamic army into Iberia and laid siege to the city of Tarifa. Sancho responded by raising his own army and soundly defeating the Islamic invaders. King Sancho proved himself brave and skilled in battle, and drove the invaders all the way to the sea...and his brother Juan had to swallow his pride and take a permanent vacation outside of Spain until Sancho's death.

    Sancho_IV_de_Castilla_02.jpg
    Contemporary manuscript illustration of Sancho IV.

    So after defeating the invading Islamic army, and with the newly acquired awesome nickname of Sancho El Bravo (Sancho the Brave), Sancho IV made big plans to unify the Reconquista and drive the rest of the Muslims out of Spain. However, he caught tuberculosis instead and died. The crown passed to his son Ferdinand IV, who was a bit of a tyrant, but whom also proved skillful at war against the Moors like his father before him.
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2016
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  3. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    Saw that when it was listed, really liked it too. Nice addition.
     
    Sallent likes this.
  4. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    Thanks. It was cheap and is part of my heritage, so I had to have it before someone else got the idea they also wanted it. I need to add a few more medieval Spanish kings eventually.
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2016
  5. Mat

    Mat Ancient Coincoholic

    Medievals are additive and I have to scratch that itch now and then.
     
  6. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    So, no one has any Spanish beauties they wish to share? Show em if you got em.
     
  7. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    This is the second coin in a row where the seller has grossly misattributed the location where the coin was minted. At least it's the right denomination and ruler, but the mint is way off (but it's an improvement on the Indian coin I bought last week where even the culture that minted it and denomination was wrong).

    Here is the coin with the new attribution:

    Sancho IV El Bravo AR Coronado.jpg
    Sancho IV "El Bravo"
    AR Cornado 1284-1295 CE
    Seville mint.
    SANCII REX, Crowned bust left. /
    CASTELLE LEGIONIS, Castle, crucifix on top with star to the left and S to the right
    C&C 1197; Burgos 243; S. Cy1192. SC

    I knew the attribution was off when it said the star was to the right on the reverse, where it is clearly to the left, and it described the S as a mug (LOL). This is not the Cuenca mint, but rather Seville. Turns out Seville had either two stars or a star to the left and an S to the right. This is the star to the left and S to the right variety. The star and S variety appears to be the rarer type based on my research.

    So sad, you can't trust dealers to attribute these coins right unless they are the typical Roman, Greek, English medieval, etc. which everyone collects. If you buy some Kingdom/culture that is not as popular with the "in crowd" I'd triple check that attribution for accuracy.

    PS: Coin is now worth an extra $10 with the correct attribution to Seville with the S. I just made a 20% profit...LOL. Not that I'd ever sell it.
     
    Last edited: Aug 26, 2016
    Bing, icerain and Alegandron like this.
  8. icerain

    icerain Mastir spellyr

    Well I do have this from Spain that I posted in the other thread. Don't know if it has any relation to your coins though.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. ValiantKnight

    ValiantKnight Well-Known Member

    Nothing to contribute here, at least from that time period, so I've just been lurking the thread (until this comment, of course).
     
  10. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    Super-cool OP-addition (yah, I also love sneaking-in a sweet Medieval coin every now and then)

    Ummm, but sorry dude ... I don't have any Spain examples from this time period (*sigh*)

    => oh, but I can't exit your thread without at least dropping one morsel, eh?

    Hey, how 'bout this ol' Spanish thang?

    Augustus, Spain Celsa, L Bag/Mn Flav "Duoviri", AE As

    Augustus AE As Celsa Bull.jpg
     
    icerain, Bing, Alegandron and 2 others like this.
  11. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    So sad...you guys really could use a few medieval Spanish coins. Seems like I'm cornering the market on Iberian Islamic and Christian coinage in this forum.
     
    red_spork likes this.
  12. ValiantKnight

    ValiantKnight Well-Known Member

    I'd see it as a good thing. Less competition. And a possible shot at being CT's resident medieval Iberian coin expert one day.
     
  13. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    In your title you stated the town of Gallicia.. is it not Galicia?
    Sorry I have never read it that way.. and to me a double LL is pronounced like the letter Y as in Yellow. So I read it as you spelled it, Gayicia
     
  14. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    It was a typo. I must have been thinking of the Spanish term for a person from Galicia...which is Gallego, as I was typing Galicia. Thank for noticing. I can't edit the title, so this correction will have to do. I don't want to trouble a mod over an L.
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2016
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