Penny of Henry VIII

David Woohouse had already identified this hammered silver coin but he asked for my opinion on what it might be worth.

On the obverse of David’s find the legend reads hE’8 DG ROSA SINE SPINA around a half-length portrait of King Henry VIII. Within the inner circle on the reverse is a quartered shield, which is surrounded by a legend reading CIVI TAS BRIS TOLIE. There is a fleur de lis after TAS.

The coin is 16mm in diameter so it is a penny. It was struck during the posthumous coinage of Henry VIII, during the early part of the reign of Edward VI. In the Standard Catalogue it is listed as number 2421 and in J. J. North’s English Hammered Coinage it is number 1886.

The catalogue price for this coin and its listing by J. J. North suggest this is not a scarce coin. However, another gauge of scarcity is the massive collection of Tudor coins built up by Roger Shuttlewood (sold at auction by Spink in 2001). The collection was bristling with rarities but it did not include an example of the coin pictured here.

Valuation

There is some weakness within the inner circle, especially on the king’s face, but the rest of the coin is well struck with good detain. To a specialist collector it shouldn’t be worth any less than £100.

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