Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Penny - Henry VIII 1st coinage
| Issuer | England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1509-1526 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/2 Penny (1⁄480) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Crude facing effigy of King Henry VIII, crowned, enclosed within an inner beaded circle. The portrait is rendered in the characteristic hammered style of the period, with bold, simplified facial features. A legend in Latin uncial script encircles the design within the outer beaded border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | + hEnRIC`xDI`xGRA`xREX AGL (Translation: Henry by the Grace of God King of England) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Henry VIII's first coinage was essentially his father's — the dies, designs, and weight standards carried over directly from the reign of Henry VII with minimal alteration. The half penny at 0.36g was already a marginal denomination by 1509, difficult to strike cleanly at that size and prone to being clipped even before it left the mint. When Henry finally broke from this inherited monetary framework in 1526 with the Great Debasement's precursor reforms, these small silvers were among the first casualties of revaluation.