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1 Groat - Philip and Mary
| Issuer | England |
|---|---|
| Year | 1554-1558 |
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| Currency | Pound sterling (1158-1970) |
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| Obverse description | Draped and crowned bust of Mary I facing left, wearing an ornate crown, depicted within a beaded inner circle. Behind the bust, the royal mantle and dress are rendered in fine detail characteristic of mid-Tudor hammered coinage. The regal effigy is executed in a somewhat stylised portrait style typical of the period. A Latin legend identifying the joint monarchs Philip and Mary runs around the periphery, separated from the inner circle by the field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Philip and Mary's joint coinage was constitutionally awkward from the start. Parliament insisted that Philip hold no independent authority over England, so the coins had to perform a careful political balancing act — their dual portraits appearing face-to-face, a format unprecedented in English coinage, while the legends navigated his Spanish titles without implying he could govern alone. When Mary died in 1558 and Philip lost any claim to the English throne, the series ended abruptly after barely four years.
Spink 2508 exists in two main varieties distinguished by whether Philip's titles precede Mary's or follow them in the legend — a small but deliberate statement about precedence that collectors and contemporaries alike took seriously.