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1641-1652, Spain, Philip III. Multiple Countermarked Copper 12 Maravedis Coin.

Reference: KM-10. Mint Place: Uncertain Countermark Place: Burgos (B) Ruler: Philip III (Felipe III) of Spain Condition: Multiple VF-XF countermarks on a Fine coin! Denomination: 6 Maravedis (countermarked during 1641-1642 and during 1652) Mint Year: Countermarked during 1641-1642 with the Burgos mint valution countermark of "XII" (12) Maravedis, a couple of other countermarks (one of which is the date 1652, the other a numeral eight and an old one seems to resemble the ligate monogram of Philip (II, III or IV)! Material: Copper Diameter: 27mm Weight: 4.51gm

Obverse: Large value numeral "XII" (12 Maravedis) and mint initial "B" (Burgos mint) countermark below another another countermar "1652" (date) over a ligate monogram ("PHILIPPVS") countermark above.

Reverse: A large numeral countermark "8" (for 8 Maravedis) over older countermarks recognizabe.

Philip III (Spanish: Felipe III; April 14, 1578 – March 31, 1621) was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II of Portugal (Portuguese: Filipe II),   from 1598 until his death. His chief minister was the Duke of Lerma.   Philip III married Margaret of Austria, sister of Emperor Ferdinand II,   and like her husband, a member of the House of Habsburg.

Born in Madrid, the son of Philip II of Spain and his   fourth wife (and niece) Anna, daughter of the Emperor Maximilian II and   Maria of Spain. He shared the viewpoints and beliefs of his father,   including his piety, but did not inherit his industry. The diligent old   king had sorrowfully confessed that God had not given him a son capable   of governing his vast dominions, and that he had foreseen that Philip   III would be led by his servants. This assessment ultimately proved   correct. In the view of historian J. H. Elliott, his "only virtue   appeared to reside in a total absence of vice".

The new king put the direction of his government   entirely into the hands of his favourite, the Duke of Lerma, Francisco   Goméz de Sandoval y Rojas, and when he fell under the influence of   Lerma's son, Cristóbal de Sandoval, the Duke of Uceda in 1618, he   trusted himself and his states to the new favourite. Unlike his father,   Philip was not interested in the day-to-day business of government. He   spent many months each year travelling to different palaces with his   court, away from the government centre. His household costs rose   enormously at a time of falling income.

He died at Madrid on March 31, 1621. The story told in the memoirs of the French ambassador Bassompierre, that he was killed by the heat of a brasero (a pan of hot charcoal), because the proper official to take it away   was not at hand, is a humorous exaggeration of the formal etiquette of   the court.