Henry VIII Silver Groat Second Coinage , Lis , 1526-1544

Description

Denomination: Silver groat (4d or four pennies)

Period: Tudor

Date: 1526-1544 

Origin: Tower mint. London

Condition: VF. slight loss at 8 o’clock and weakness to strike on face. few scuff marks

Obverse: Laker bust of Henry in profile. right. legend around. Lis initial mark. HENRIC VIII D G R AGL Z FRAnC

Reverse: Long cross over quartered shield of arms. saltires in forks. POSVI DEV ADIVTORE MEV

Size and Weight: 23.5mm. 2.61g

References: Spink 2337E

Features and Provenance: Born in 1491. Henry Tudor went from a healthy. handsome. sportsman in his youth to totally the opposite. dying at the relatively young age of 55 in 1557. He remembered for his obsession to have a male heir; leading to him to the altar six times. Had he been a little more open-minded and changed the law and tradition of agnatic primogeniture (succession by first born male only) to one accepting the first born child. Mary would have become queen sooner and history would have been very different. Henry also had an illegitimate son. Henry FitzRoy. whom he made Duke of Richmond. At the time. when no legitimate son was on the horizon. parliament even considered the Second Succession Act which would have allowed FitzRoy to have become king! However. fate intervened and he himself died childless in 1536 putting even more strain on Henry’s need for a son. Thankfully. the following year Edward was born to great celebration. but Henry would never know that his longed-for heir would only reign for six years from the age of nine in 1547; this paving a new royal path for his spurned daughters Mary and then Elizabeth. anyway. 

Condition Summary. This varies with the age of coin and there are grades inbetween

Uncirculated (U). As struck with no traces of wear

Extremely Fine (EF). Very slight traces of wear. all parts of legend etc present. visible and clear

Very Fine (VF). Some signs of wear on the higher parts of the relief. all parts of legend etc present. but maybe worn

Fine (F). Wear on the coin and parts of legend etc may be missing or not visible