6 Pence - Henry VIII

This piece dates to the final years of Henry VIII's systematic debasement of Irish coinage, a policy that ran from roughly 1540 until his death in 1547 — meaning this 1550 issue was struck under Edward VI while still carrying his father's name and portrait, a common transitional practice. The Irish mint at Dublin was particularly aggressive in reducing silver fineness during this period, producing coins that contemporaries complained turned their skin green and their purses worthless.

Spink 6488 is among the scarcer denominations of the harp coinage debased series, with surviving examples frequently showing corrosion consistent with the low silver content reacting over centuries.