Henry VIII (1509 - 1547) Read about Henry VIII

Hammered Gold

WAu-7311: Henry VIII Hammered Gold Crown of the Double Rose. Third coinage, initial mark none / WS monogram, 1544-47, Bristol mint. S.R. 2310. Ex Spink (various tickets here). Slightly wavy flan with minor edge splits. A very popular coin and invariably a minimum of £5K in today’s market. This one priced very competitively at £4,295

WAu-9099: Henry VIII with WIFE Hammered Gold Crown of the Double Rose. Second coinage, 1526-44, circulated at five shillings, 22 ct gold. London (Tower) mint. hK both sides, initial mark Lis, S.R. 2274. Struck to commemorate the king's marriage to Katherine of Aragon. This was the king's first wife. Katherine was originally betrothed to Henry's elder brother, Arthur, when she was 3 years old. They married when she was 16, but was widowed just a few months later. It took Henry another 7 years to marry Katherine although to be fair, he was only 18 when he married Katherine! The Irish Harp coinage of Henry VIII celebrates some wives but not Katherine of Aragon - she can only be found on this English gold coinage. Quick quiz: which wives, if any, are not represented on either the English or Irish coins? Old tickets here. A pleasing solid VF grade. £4,850

Provenance

ex Royal Mint

ex Spink

Hammered Silver

Groats

1st Issue:

WTH-8137: Henry VIII Hammered Silver Early Groat. First coinage of 1509-26, initial mark Portcullis, portrait of his father, Henry VII. London mint, S.R. 2316, a single issue unless you count the Tournai groat, one of which find its way onto this site in the next few weeks. The initial photograph is atrocious, giving the coin a leaden appearance that is completely unjustified. See here for a more representative camera-phone image, although even that isn't great. Some coins just don't like having their picture taken! £525

2nd Issue:

WTH-7976: Henry VIII Hammered Silver Tudor Groat - Laker Bust B. Second coinage, initial mark Rose (Henry's symbol; the Mary Rose was Henry VIII's flagship), 1526-44. The crown is within the inner circle and indeed does not reach it - the much rarer Laker Bust B. S.R. 2337D. I have had dozens and dozens of Henry VIII Later Bust D coins over the years and very few, if any, of the other types. As such, because I'd had no reason to ever look it up, I hadn't quite appreciated how ridiculous the S.R. pricing was / is / will no doubt continue to be. How Laker Bust B can be virtually on a par with Laker Bust D in terms of pricing, according to S.R. at least, is the very definition of incredulity. Ex Tim Owen. £945

WTH-7280: Henry VIII Hammered Silver Groat. Second coinage, 1526-44, Laker bust D, S.R. 2337E. London (Tower) mint. Immediately after this issue in 1544, overspending by Henry VIII to pay for his lavish lifestyle and to fund foreign wars with France and Scotland finally took their toll on the economy and The Great Debasement (1544–1551), a currency debasement policy, was introduced. Consequently, coinage within that period was hardly recognisable as silver – in fact this is where the term, “Old Copper Nose” originated. Sold with a detailed information slip (grades this coin as nVF) and a collector’s cabinet ticket. £295

WTH-7753: Henry VIII Hammered Silver Tudor Groat. Second coinage, London mint. Initial mark Lis, Laker bust D, S.R. 2337E. A very nice example. £495

WTH-7890: Henry VIII Hammered Silver Groat with Excellent Provenance. Second coinage, London mint. 1526-44. Laker bust D, initial mark Lis, S.R. 2237E. What elevates this coin is the provenance, which goes all the way back to those very early post WW2 years - May 1948 to be precise. Ex H.M. Lingford collection. £425

Posthumous Issue

WTH-7036: Henry VIII (struck under Edward VI) Hammered Silver Groat. Posthumous issue, im E, bust 6. S.R. 2404. Southwark mint. Overspending by Henry VIII to pay for his lavish lifestyle and to fund foreign wars with France and Scotland finally took their toll on the economy and The Great Debasement (1544–1551), a currency debasement policy, was introduced. Consequently, coinage within that period was hardly recognisable as silver – in fact this is where the term, “Old Copper Nose” originated. £255

WTH-7270: Henry VIII (Edward VI) Hammered Billon Silver Groat. Posthumous coinage of 1547-51. Initial mark Grapple (reverse only), Tower mint, bust 6. Ex R. Carlyon-Britton. Superb provenance. Overspending by Henry VIII to pay for his lavish lifestyle and to fund foreign wars with France and Scotland finally took their toll on the economy and The Great Debasement (1544–1551), a currency debasement policy, was introduced. Consequently, coinage within that period was hardly recognisable as silver – in fact this is where the term, “Old Copper Nose” originated. £285

Halfgroats

2nd Issue:

WTH-7136: Henry VIII Hammered Silver Tudor Halfgroat. Second coinage, 1526-44. Episcopal issue – struck under Archbishop Warham of Canterbury. S.R. 2343. Ex Rymer collection, ex Spink. £335

WTH-7534: Henry VIII Hammered Silver Tudor Halfgroat. Profile issue, second coinage, S.R. 2343. Canterbury mint, initial mark Cross Patonce / Uncertain Mark. Struck under Archbishop Warham. £265

Pennies

2nd Issue:

WTH-7331: Henry VIII Hammered Silver Sovereign Penny. Second issue, initial mark Star. An Episcopal issue struck under Bishop Tunstall of Durham, 1530-44. S.R. 2354. Well centred, full flan, rare thus. £215

WTH-7786: Henry VIII Hammered Silver Tudor SOVEREIGN Penny. Second coinage, Episcopal mint – Bishop Tunstall at Durham. 1530-44. S.R. 2354. Full flan (quite a rare feature on sovereign pennies) and ex Lingford collection with his original ticket. £250

3rd Issue:

Halfpennies

WTH-7536: Henry VIII Hammered Silver Tudor Halfpenny. Second coinage, S.R. 2356. London mint, initial mark Lis. About “as struck” and with the rare to see initial mark. Choice. £175

WTH-7784: Henry VIII Hammered Silver Tudor Halfpenny. Second coinage, 1526-44, Canterbury Episcopal mint struck under Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. S.R. 2358. High grade and ex Lingford collection with his original ticket. £280

Other

WJC-9348: (16) Henry VIII : 1616-38 Silver Simon de Passe Token. Machine-pressed silver tokens or counters depicting the monarchs of England, issued in sets (thought to be thirty six), composed either of pieces of different monarchs or repetitions of the same type. Thought to be primarily used as markers or counters "for reckoning and for play". The dies were very cleverly sunk to give the impression of a hand-engraved silver token. Some of these counters were executed early in the 1616-38 period by Nicholas Hilliard, jeweller; goldsmith and engraver to Elizabeth 1st and afterwards to James 1st. In 1617, Hilliard received a patent granting him the monopoly for twelve years of all the engraved portraits of the King and the Royal Family. He subsequently sold licences to other engravers to execute these counters, one of which was to Simon de Passe and his brother, both of whom excelled in the art of engraving. This sub-licence to the de Passe brothers was issued late in the reign of James 1st. Collectively, these tokens are all termed De Passe tokens for convenience. £295

Provenance:

From a collection put together over a great many years; dispersed by Spink.