(sold for $186.0)

1622, Kingdom of Sicily, Philip IV of Spain. Silver  4 Tari Cob Coin. Messina mint!

Mint Year: 1622 Mint Place: Messina   Reference: KM-21 ($225 in VF!).    Mint Master: Giovanni dei Pozzo (IP, 1611-1638) Denomination: 4 Tari  (interesting cob-like strike!) Condition: Struck, on an almost square, but nicer than usual planchet, minor scratches and light deposits, otherwise a nicely toned about XF! Weight: 10.22gm Diameter: 32mm Material: Silver

Obverse: Armored bust of Philip IV in high ruff right. Value shown as four pellets (4 Tari) below bust! Legend: + * PHILIPP * °°°° * IIII * D * G *

Reverse: Crowned heraldic eagle of the Kingdom of Sicily looking left. Mint master´s initials (I-P) split in fields below eagle´s wings. Legend: + * REX * SICILIAE * 1622 *

Philip IV (Felipe IV,   (8 April 1605 – 17 September 1665) was King of Spain between 1621 and   1665, sovereign of the Spanish Netherlands, and King of Portugal until   1640. On the eve of his death in 1665, the Spanish empire reached its   historical zenith spanning almost 3 billion acres.

Philip IV was born in Valladolid, and was the eldest son of Philip III and his wife Margaret of Austria.

Philip IV's reign, after a few years of inconclusive   successes, was characterized by political and military decay and   adversity. He has been held responsible for the decline of Spain, which   was mostly due, however, to organic causes largely beyond the control of   any one ruler. Philip certainly possessed more energy, both mental and   physical, than his diffident father. His handwritten translation of   Francesco Guicciardini's texts on political history still exists, and he   was a fine horseman and keen hunter.

His artistic taste is shown by his patronage of his   court painter Diego Velázquez; his love of letters by his favoring Lope   de Vega, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and other immortal dramatists. He   is credited, on fairly probable testimony, with a share in the   composition of several comedies. He also commenced the building of the Buen Retiro palace in Madrid, parts of which still remain near the Prado.

His good intentions were no avail to governance,   however. Feeling himself not yet qualified to rule when he ascended to   the throne at age 16, he allowed himself to be guided by the most   capable men he could find. His favourite, Olivares, was a far more   honest and capable man than his predecessor the Duke of Lerma, and   better fitted for the office of chief minister than any Spaniard of the   time, perhaps. Philip, however, lacked the confidence to free himself   from Olivares's influence once he did come of age. With Olivares's   encouragement, he rather busied himself with frivolous amusements.

In December 1st, 1640, a uprising took place in   Lisbon expelling King Philip IV of Spain (Philip III of Portugal) from   the Portuguese throne, giving it to the Braganzas. This was the end of   60 years of the Iberian Union and the beginning of the Portuguese   Restoration War (lost by the Habsburgs).

By 1643, when disasters falling on all sides led to   the dismissal of the all-powerful minister, Philip had largely lost the   power to devote himself to hard work. After a brief struggle with the   task of directing the administration of the most extensive and   worst-organized multi-national state in Europe, he sank back into   indolence and let other favourites govern.

His political opinions were those he had inherited   from his father and grandfather. He thought it his duty to support the   House of Habsburg and the cause of the Roman Catholic Church against the   Protestants, to assert his sovereignty over the Dutch, and to extend   the dominions of his family. The utter exhaustion of his people in the   course of perpetual war, against the Netherlands, France, Portugal,   Protestant forces in the Holy Roman Empire and Great Britain, was seen   by him with sympathy but he considered it an unavoidable misfortune,   since he could not have been expected to renounce his legitimate rights,   or to desert what he viewed as the cause of God, the Church and the   House of Habsburg.

He was idealised by his contemporaries as the model   of Baroque kingship. Outwardly he maintained a bearing of rigid   solemnity, and was seen to laugh only three times in the course of his   entire public life. But, in private, his court was grossly corrupt.   Victorian historians prudishly attributed the early death of his eldest   son, Baltasar Carlos, to debauchery, encouraged by the gentlemen   entrusted by the king with his education. This shocked the king, but its   effect soon wore off. Philip IV died broken-hearted in 1665, expressing   the pious hope that his surviving son, Carlos, would be more fortunate   than himself. On his death, a catafalque was built in Rome to   commemorate his life.