Halfgroat of Henry VIII

This hammered silver coin came in from Roger Paul, who said it was a recent find. It’s a halfgroat of Henry VIII, which isn’t in good condition but Roger said he had found much worse specimens.

The coin was struck during the third coinage of Henry VIII, which commence in 1544 and lasted until the king died in 1547. During this period the silver coinage was debased and the situation grew even worse when Edward VI was on the throne. It was not until 1551 that the content of precious metal in silver coins returned to the sterling (.925 parts out of each 1,000) standard.

On the obverse is the old head of King Henry, who faces slightly to the right. Around the shield of arms on the reverse is a legend reading CIVI TAS CAN TOR, so this halfgroat was struck at Canterbury. There is no mint mark on the obverse or reverse. In the Standard Catalogue this coin is listed as number2378.

Valuation

The obverse has been struck off centre but the coin is otherwise in Fair to Fine condition. In terms of market value, I’d say around £30.

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