Coins and Historical Medals

Henry VII (1485-1509), Profile issue, Groat, Tentative type IIa/IIb, mm. lis on rev. only, reads henric vi·i di gra rex agli’ z fr’, saltire stops, rev. cross-end 11, legend ends mev’, 3.05g/2h (P & W –; SCBI Ashmolean –; N 1743; S 2254). Some very minor obverse surface marks, minimal bend in flan, otherwise good very fine and neatly struck, the variety excessively rare £1,200-£1,500

Neatly struck on a carefully prepared planchet, this specimen has all the appearance of an early trial for the new portrait - an idea supported by Potter and Winstanley who state “[the coins] must be in the nature of trial pieces, as they do not bear marks in the regular series” (BNJ vol. 31, 1962, p.110). They are conventionally dated c. 1504