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1/2 Crown - Edward VI 2nd period, crowned bust
| Issuer | England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1549-1550 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Facing right bust of King Edward VI, draped and armored, wearing a crown, set within a beaded inner circle. The youthful royal effigy is rendered in the late medieval hammered style characteristic of the Second Period coinage. A continuous Latin legend runs around the periphery of the coin, separated from the bust by a beaded border. The portrait is relatively crude in execution, typical of mid-Tudor hammered gold coinage. |
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| Reverse description | A crowned quartered shield of arms displaying the royal arms of England and France, flanked by elaborate ornamental scrollwork, set within a beaded inner circle. The shield is quartered with the fleurs-de-lis of France and the lions passant guardant of England in alternating quarters. A continuous Latin legend surrounds the design within the outer beaded border. The overall composition is characteristic of mid-Tudor hammered gold coinage in its decorative treatment of the heraldic shield. |
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| Additional information |
The Second Coinage of Edward VI (1549–1550) marked a sharp debasement from the already-compromised issues of his father's final years, though the gold denominations were somewhat less adulterated than the silver. This halfcrown belongs to a coinage authorized under the Lord Protector Northumberland's consolidating grip on the regency — a period when mint policy served factional finance as much as royal prerogative.
Spink 2444 is among the scarcer survivors of the Second Coinage gold series, with relatively low documented examples appearing at auction.