W. C a r e w H a z l i t t Coinage of the European Continent

Introduction 2 7
her frontier extended far into France. Toward the end of
the thirteenth century Navarre lapsed by the marriage of an
heiress to the French, and continued to be an appanage of
that kingdom till the extinction of the Capetian
although Ferdinand and Isabella augmented the heraldic
cognisance with the arms of those provinces which they were
the first to reduce to submission, if not to uniformity of
government, their successors down to the period
line. But
of the
Republic of 1869 renounced all but the ancient quartered
insignia of Leon and Castile.
At the same time, pronounced individuality of character
will be discerned in the several branches of this group of
productions, both during the coexistence of more than one
autonomous state on Spanish
soil and after the consolidation
into one monarchy by Ferdinand and his consort.
Some of the earlier gold coins, such as those of Peter the
Cruel (1350-69), are coveted on account of their rarity.
The Spanish copper coins may be
as a peculiarly rich field
commended to notice
for the amateur who desires curious
specimens at a moderate cost. Starting with the reign of
John II. (1406-54) he will find it possible to possess an
almost consecutive assemblage of specimens and types to
the present day, including the special currency for Pampeluna,
the siege pieces of the Peninsular struggle, 1808-1809, and
the colonial money. The larger proportion of the ordinary
coins are very poorly executed and very roughly struck, and,
when they are in pristine state, do not offer a very inviting
appearance, especially where they are countermarked.
The numismatic history of PORTUGAL appears to date
from the eleventh century, when that extremity of the
Peninsula was already under the government of independent
and hereditary counts. These in the person of Alfonso I.
(1139-85) assumed the royal title after a victory over the
Moors of Granada. In the course of three hundred years the
country, under the auspices of several wise administrators,
and through the spirit of maritime discovery, rose by steady
degrees to the rank of a first-rate European power. From
1 5 80 to 1 640 its fortunes were bound up with those of