York halfgroat of Henry VII

Damon Ward asked if I could let him have a full ID and a valuation on this hammered silver coin.

The coin is a York halfgroat of Henry VII. On the obverse a tressure of six arcs surrounds the facing bust of the king. There are quatrefoils on the cusps of the tressure, keys by the king’s neck and the mint mark is a martlet.

The preceding information adds up to this halfgroat being struck for Thomas Savage, who was Archbishop of York from 1501 to 1507. It’s an example of class IVd and is listed in the Standard Catalogue as number 2215.

Canterbury halfgroats are similar to those of York and the catalogue price is roughly the same. However, I’d estimate that that roughly 50 Canterbury halfgroats turn up as detecting finds for each one from the archbishop’s mint at York.

Valuation

The obverse of Damon’s coin would grade good Fine. The reverse isn’t as good, for it is double struck and off centre. In its present condition this halfgroat should be worth £50 to £60 to a collector.

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