Hammered Coins of Henry VIII

Obverse of Henry VIII Groat

Reverse of Henry VIII Groat

Henry VIII succeeded his father in 1509. He had not been expected to come to the throne, but his elder brother Arthur, had predeceased their father. Henry married his elder brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, who bore him a daughter, Mary (later Queen Mary I). The failure of Catherine to produce a male heir however, would have consequences which would shape the destiny of the nation.
Henry was desperate for a male heir, but by the early 1530s, his wife was beyond childbearing age. Henry resolved to divorce his wife and marry one of her ladies in waiting, Anne Boleyn, a woman with reformationist sympathies. The Catholic Church refused to grant a divorce from Henry's first wife, but influenced by Anne Boleyn and other reformationist-minded notables, he seperated the Church in England from Rome and made himself its head, allowing him to grant himself a divorce and marry Anne Boleyn.
Although Anne Boleyn gave birth to a daughter, Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I) in 1533, her other pregnancies miscarried, and Henry came to believe that the marriage was cursed. Anne was found guilty of fabricated charges of incest, adultery and witchcraft and executed to make way for Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife, who gave birth to a son, Edward (later Edward VI) before dying. Henry then married Anne of Cleves, but found her deeply unattractive and divorced her without consumating the marriage. Henry next married Catherine Howard, but her adultery led to her execution the following year in 1541. Lastly, Henry married Catherine Parr, who he remained married to until his death in 1547.
Although Henry VIII initiated the reformation in England, he considered himself an orthodox catholic his whole life, and passionately condemned the reformationsist principles which were sweeping through Europe at the time. The pope gave him the title 'Defender of the Faith' (a title which all subsequent English monarchs have held since) for his defence of catholic orthodoxy prior to the break with the Church.
Numismatically, Henry VIII is notable (and notorious) for debasing England's coinage and radically reducing the silver content, earning him the nickname of 'Old Coppernose' for the propensity of his coins to wear through the silver at the highest points (particularly his nose) and expose the underlying base metal. The sterling standard would not be fully restored until the reign of his daughter Elizabeth.

Obverse:
Profile portrait of the King, facing right.

Reverse:
Royal Coat of Arms surrounded by Latin Legend which translates as 'I have made God my Helper'.

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Year	Description	Spink #	Availability	Price £	Price $
1526-44	aFine(broken flan)	2337E	Yes	£60	$95

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