1 Groat - Elizabeth I 2nd issue

Elizabeth I's second coinage, running only from 1560 to 1561, was the direct product of the great recoinage ordered by Cecil and undertaken by Thomas Stanley at the Tower Mint — a deliberate effort to purge the debased silver flooded into circulation under Henry VIII and Edward VI. The debased issues had been so pervasive that English trade credibility on the continent had measurably deteriorated.

The second issue was itself transitional, replaced quickly by the third coinage as minting practices were refined. Surviving groats from this narrow window are correspondingly scarce.