CARLOS the Bad (1349-1387). Gross. (Ar. 3.41g/30mm). Navarre. (Cru.VS 233 var). Obv: Bust crowned from the front, around it legend: NAVARRE REX, in the outer border fleurs-de-lys. Rev: Kicked cross, around legend: KAROLVS DEI GRA/DNS MAIVTOR N TIMEBO CEAC MICHI HOMO. Almost Extremely Fine. Rare specimen and more so.
From a numismatic point of view, Carlos II of Navarre, nicknamed "El Malo", has gone down in history as one of the most famous counterfeiters of medieval coins. It is not strange that in a situation of special economic difficulty, one resorts to the minting of necessity coins, to the imitation of types or to the formula of lowering the silver content of the coin as a means to obtain greater benefits for the treasury. From 1350 this last practice became common both in its Normandy territories and in the kingdom of Navarre. In principle, those known as thick (gros) tornese were coined, but from 1380 they presented the iconographic novelty of replacing the tornés castle by the frontal bust of the monarch (of clear English inspiration). As quoted by Miguel Ibáñez Artica: "Once again we will witness a plummeting of the law of the coin that begins with 83.3% in silver to end with 50% in 1386. The same monarch is aware of the breach produced in the coin and in the minting order, mention is made of the scandal produced and the shame suffered by the king himself forced to carry out such issues. Thanks to this devaluation, Carlos II obtained in a year and a half the not inconsiderable amount of 30,000 pounds of benefits."
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