Description
Spanish Kingdoms of Castile & León, Ferdinand II of Aragon (as Ferdinand V of Castile & León) & Isabella I of Castile, Silver 4 Reales (13.69g, 35mm), Seville mint circa 1479-1504 AD. Obverse: Shield of Arms of King Ferdinand II ‘the Catholic’ (pre 1513 AD version) surmounted by royal crown, mintmark “S” to left field, mark of value “o IIII” to right field, inner beaded border and legend surrounds, “FERNANDVS: E[T· E]LISABET [D GR]” (ND of FERNANDVS ligated). Reverse: Garlanded Yoke of Isabella over bundle of six arrows of Ferdinand, within inner lined and beaded border, legend beginning with initial mark Cross Potent surrounds, “REX· ET [R]EGINAA· CA[ST] · LEGIO[N· A]RAGON”. Calicó-561. Typical weakness of strike in parts, interestingly with incorrect spelling of ‘REGINA’, largely complete through the central devices and with clear naming of Ferdinand and reverse titulature, a notable example, near Extremely Fine for issue.
The Obverse Latin legend reads “Fernandus et Elizabeth, Deī Grātiā”, with an English translation of “Ferdinand and Isabella, by the Grace of God”. Ferdinando is a Germanic name rather than from Latin, derived from Proto-Germanic fardiz (“journey”) or friþuz (“peace”) and nanþaz (“daring”) – it may be assumed the Latin nomenclature “Fernandus” is derived from the Germanic “Ferdinando”. The Spanish name “Isabel” is derived from the Latin “Elizabeth” and written as such. The Reverse Latin legend reads “Rēx et Rēgīna, Castellae, Legiōnis, Aragoniae”, with an English translation of “King and Queen of Castille, Leon and Aragon”. Castille is written as “Castella” in Medieval Latin, derived from the plural of the Latin ‘castellum’ (“castle, fort, citadel”). Interestingly, Leon is written as “Legiōnis”, the genitive singular of ‘legiō’ (“Legion”), whilst the etymology of the Spanish word León is derived from the Latin ‘leōnis’, the genitive form of ‘leō’ (“Lion”). An added curiosity to this is that the kingdom León was founded by the Roman Seventh Legion, legiō’ septima geminā – a potential link?
The ‘yoke and bundle of arrows’, ‘Yugo y haz de flechas’ in Spanish, is a symbolic heraldic emblem representing the dynastic union of Spain’s Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. Foremost, the yoke was symbolic of the legend of the Gordian knot, a metaphor for an intractable problem (untying an impossibly tangled knot) solved easily by finding an approach to the problem that renders the perceived constraints of the problem moot, and is also symbolically associated to the alleged motto made at the union between the two monarchs, ‘Tanto monta, monta tanto’ (“They amount to the same, the same they amount to”). Second, the bundle of six arrows alluded to the ancient proverb that arrows can be easily broken one by one, but are unbreakable if tied together as a bundle, a ‘fascis’ in Latin.