Remembered in history for beheading two of his wives and numerous other close friends and advisors, Henry VIII would have qualified as a modern-day psychopath. He seems to have been an individual devoid of trust, faith in his fellow human beings and honour. Yet we are fascinated by him and his coins are very collectible and almost universally desired. Who can say they weren't a little awestruck by his imposing portrait by Hans Holbein in his regal clothing and finery, an aggressive stance facing forward with legs slightly apart and clenched fists. However, during his time not only did he debase the coinage to pay for his expensive military campaigns but it seems the quality of the flans and strike took several steps backwards, in my opinion. He reintroduced the testoon, which had previously not proven to be very successful, but later and secretly debased not only the gold coins (including the sovereign) but also all silver issues first to 9 oz. all the way down to 4 oz. By my calculations that is only 25% silver content. This made it profitable for counterfeiters to strike these coins in very large numbers and so a very many testoons were produced, not only by the crown mints, but also by counterfeiters. In an attempt to end the counterfeiting and earn further profits for the crown, he demonetized the testoon in 1548 and these were recalled in exchange for the new coinage of 4 oz. purity. So a coin which was produced in large numbers was eventually melted down and recoined, making it a very scarce and collectible issue. I have been outbid on more occasions than I’d like to remember and thought history had repeated itself. But was pleasantly surprised to see it in my ‘items won’ folder. With their notoriously poor quality of metal and weakness of strike, I felt this one at least bears the full face of the monarch and enough of the Tudor Rose to make it worth having. Please post any related coins you may wish to. Henry VIII (1509-1547), Third coinage, Testoon, Southwark, mm. S on obv., E on rev (?)., double trefoil stops on obv., sleeve stops on rev., 5.71g/2h (N 1842; S 2367).
Henry VIII (1509-1547 A.D.) AR Groat Second Coinage O: hЄnRIC’ VIII D’ G’ R’ ΛGLIЄ Z FRΛnCЄ, crowned bust right (Laker bust D); saltire stops, Lombardic lettering. R: POSVI DEV’ ΛDIVTORЄ’ mЄV’, royal shield over long cross fourchée; saltires in forks, double saltire stops, Lombardic lettering. Tower mint; im:arrow, 1526-1532 A.D. 25mm 2.55g SCBC 2337E; North 1797 Henry VIII (1509-1547 A.D.) AR Groat Third Coinage O: D. G. AnG. FRA. Z hIB. RЄX, , crowned bearded bust half right, rose after rex. , Laker bust A. R: C[IVI] TAS BRIS TOLIЄ, royal coat-of-arms over long cross fourchée; lis in forks; pellet below third quarter of shield; rose after TAS, lis before BRIS; pellet on inner border. Bristol mint; im: -/WS “monogram of William Sharrington” Struck circa 1546-1547. 2.45g 26mm North 1846; SCBC 2372
Out of my wheelhouse sadly. The only thing I remember about Henry is the Hermans Hermits song. Nice write up though and I always enjoy this side of the forum as a lurker who likes to learn.
They aren't cheap unless in very poor condition. The more frustrating issue though is that very few decent examples come up for sale. So if you miss one, it could be a fairly long wait. Even Heritage has only offered 4 since 2015.
He had debased the coinage so that as his portrait wore and the coins toned he began to be referred to as "Old Coppernose". Fortunately during the reign of Edward VI England began minting coins in sterling standard ie .925 fine silver again.
Here are some coins of Henry VIII: A first coinage groat, with the portrait of his father Henry VII A second coinage groat, with Henry's younger portrait A third coinage groat, with the famous old face, similar to the Holbein portrait A third coinage testoon, with debased silver A posthumous groat, issued during the time of Edward VI, with significantly debased silver
I find two things interesting about the coinage of Henry. The decline in quality has been covered. This is my early half groat. Henry is numbered VIII. On the later, poor quality groat, he is 8. These sell according to portrait strike but I selected this one for the 8.
@Nap thank you for sharing. A very nice selection of Henry VIII coins. At 55 he looked pretty worn out, much like his coins. @dougsmit Interesting. I never realised they used the Arabic numeral 8 on his coins, probably because in most cases the legend was so badly struck and illegible. That's one to look out for now, unless my coin is one with Arabic numerals.
