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Order By Fax 239-949-9537
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| extreme that he was unable to chew and bolted his food like a dog. It was possibly the equally doggy aspects of his romantic urges that drove his lather to such extreme measures for his own and others’ protection. Meanwhile, the bride who had been arranged for him, and worse the bride’s father, were growing impatient, and so for political reasons Felipe felt obliged to take his son’s place and wed his niece, Anne of Austria. Just think of what the Papal dispensations necessary to guarantee the succession of the House of Hapsburg must have cost! No wonder Martin Luther was so up in arms about that subject, and time has proved him lobe a better geneticist than the Pope, whatever he tacked in diplomacy. In any case this union finally produced the needed heir, to be crowned as Felipe III. | |
| As soon as the new dies could be made and distributed throughout the Spanish realms, Felipes coins bore the great shield of the Hapsburgs, with all their territories, and this shield was to serve throughout his own reign and the three following ones. If you look carefully, you can see a few minor differences in the shields of Felipe II and Felipe III. In general, Felipe II coins, notably those minted in Lima, but including the Mexican and the early Potosi issues, are distinguished by being round, flat and finely engraved. The legend ‘Philippvs, D, G,” with commas separating the words and letters, and no numeral following the name of the monarch, is usually proof that they were minted during his reign. In addition, Mexican coins of the period in general show only two bendlets in the arms of the Low Countries, whereas those of Felipe Ill and Felipe IV (usually designated as Ill!) show three. Assayer initials on the Potosi coins will be “B”, “A” or fl”. In view of the fact that both “B” and “R” were minting coins in Potosi well into the early years of Felipe III, and that there was another ‘R” assayer during the reign of Felipe Ill, coins bearing these initials sometimes require careful comparison with specimens of known Felipe II coins. There are also minor differences on the cross sides, which we’ll discuss in a later issue. | |
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