Double enrique of Henry IV Obverse

When the Almohad Empire came to the Iberian Peninsula in the 12th century, one of the changes it made was the introduction of a new monetary system in Al-Andalus. The new gold issues weighed as much as 4.6 g, nearly double the weight of the old dinars, and the Christians therefore dubbed them doblas or doubloons, a name they later applied to their own gold coins starting in the 13th century. However, over time the Christian dobla was given a variety of popular names: this coin, for instance, is actually a double dobla given its weight (9.1 g), but it was known as the doble enrique de la silla (“double Henry of the chair”) after its issuer, Henry IV (1454–1474), and his effigy as an enthroned monarch stamped on the piece.
Although some experts believe it was inspired by French monetary models, the image of a seated sovereign with lions at his feet or supporting the throne, holding the orb and sword in his hands, as pictured on the obverse of this coin, had been used in royal Castilian sigillography since the mid-12th century.