Excelente, Catholic Monarch Gold Coin

A gold coin minted by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain: King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.

Obverse: busts of the monarchs facing each other and wearing royal Crowns of the Infante. Isabella, on the left, wears a coif with her hair in a braid. Ferdinand has long hair, as was the fashion at the time. There is an S in the center of the coin, possibly alluding to the Seville mint.

Reverse: monarchs' coat of arms with a Crown of the Infante and a quartered design containing Castile and León in One and Four and a party of Aragon (gold and gules pales) and Aragon-Sicily in Two and Three; a pomegranate at the base with a haloed eagle of Saint John the Evangelist (representing the queen's devotion to the saint) with its wings splayed; the text between a double dotted border is taken from the Book of Psalms 17:8: Protect us, Lord, in the shadow of your wings (Sub umbra alarum tuarum protege nos Domine).