1 Testoon - Henry VII Profile issue

The profile testoon is widely considered the first English coin to bear a true portrait of the reigning monarch rather than a stylized, generic face. Henry VII commissioned it partly as dynastic propaganda — the realism was deliberate, projecting legitimacy at a moment when Tudor rule was barely two decades old and Yorkist pretenders remained a live threat. The design is attributed to the Flemish engraver Alexander of Brugsal, working under the influence of continental Renaissance medallic art.

Surviving examples are genuinely rare. The issue ran for only two years before production effectively ceased, and testoons saw limited circulation relative to groats — their value made them more likely to be hoarded or melted.