Catalog
31/2 Pence - Edward VI
| Issuer | Ireland |
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| Year | 1547-1550 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 16 mm |
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| Obverse description | Posthumous bust of Henry VIII in early London Tower style, depicted in semi-right facing profile. The effigy bears the aged, broad-faced likeness associated with late Henry VIII coinage, rendered in a crude hammered style characteristic of mid-16th century Irish issues. The Latin legend encircles the bust, invoking Henry VIII's titles as King of England, France, and Ireland. The coin was struck during the reign of Edward VI, yet retains the elder king's portrait as a continuation of the posthumous coinage series. |
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| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | HENRIC' 8 D' G' AG' ET FRA' Z HIB' REX (Translation: Henry 8 by the Grace of God King of England France and Ireland) |
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| Additional information |
Edward VI's Irish issues of this period were struck from debased silver — a deliberate policy inherited from Henry VIII's ruinous debasement program, which had reduced Irish coinage to some of the lowest fineness seen in the British Isles. The 3½ pence denomination itself is an oddity born of arithmetic necessity: Irish and English monetary values were being forcibly reconciled, and fractional denominations emerged to bridge the gap rather than from any organic commercial demand.
Spink 6492 is among the scarcer denominations of the Edward VI Irish series by surviving population.