Groat of Henry VII

Matthew Groves said this coin turned up the week before Christmas. After receiving conflicting identifications, Matthew asked for my opinion on his find.

The coin is a profile groat of Henry VII, which appears to have a double band to the crown being worn by King Henry. However, it is a regular issue and is listed in the Standard Catalogue as number 2258. On many late groats of the regular type the triple band to the crown does not show up clearly.

There are four saltires on the arch of the crown, which is a distinctive feature of the regular type. On the obverse are two mint marks: a pheon to the left and a cross crosslet to the right of the cross surmounting Henry’s crown. One the reverse the mint mark is a single cross crosslet with two pellets before it.

On page 437 in English Coins 1180-1551 Lord Stewartby discusses in detail the profile groats of Henry VII. The coin found by Matthew is listed as type VB; the obverse is sub- type (c) and the reverse sub-type (b).

Valuation

The above information added together points towards this groat being extremely rare. After a prolonged search I failed to trace another example in any of the major collections sold over recent years. The coin would grade about VF and if properly catalogued for sale at auction I’d expect the pre-sale estimate to be no lower than £500-600.

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