1 Sovereign - Henry VII Group V, lis/cross crosslet

Henry VII's Group V sovereign emerged from a reign defined by fiscal obsession — the king's personal supervision of revenue collection, his notorious use of bonds and recognizances to extract money from the nobility, and his transformation of the English crown from near-bankruptcy to surplus made the sovereign itself a political instrument as much as a coin. The lis/cross crosslet mintmark combination narrows this piece to a precise window of production, cross-referenced against the records of the London mint under master worker Bartholomew Reed.

At 41mm and struck in high-carat gold, these were never intended for casual commerce. The denomination circulated primarily in large mercantile settlements and royal financial transactions.