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Auction: 5033 - The Colin Adams Collection of Halfcrowns
Lot: 1

Henry VIII (1509-47), second coinage, Halfcrown, 1.79g., crowned double rose, RVTILANS ROSA SINE SPINA, rev. crowned shield, HENRIC 8 DI GRA REX AGL Z, no initials in field, double saltire stops, Roman letters with gothic h and A, m.m. rose (Schneider 598 (same dies); Whitton (i), 1; N.1793; S.2284) striking crack at 1 o´clock, otherwise a full coin, very fine, extremely rare Estimate £ 800-1,000PROVENANCE: R C Lockett, Glendining, October, lot 11 October 1956, lot 1780 Sotheby, 15 October 1998, lot 255 I Ure, M Rasmussen list no.2, Spring 2002, no.C97 The historic decision in 1526 to make gold coins of 22 ct. was forced on Henry VIII by the competition of foreign gold, chiefly French crowns and Spanish ducats, which had become current in England (Whitton, ´The Coinage of Henry VIII and Edward VI in Henry´s name´, BNJ XXVI, p.171). His first answer, the Crown of the Rose of 23 ct. valued at 4s. 6d. was a failure, but his second, the Crown of the Double Rose of 22 ct. valued at 5s., and the matching Halfcrown valued at 2s. 6d. was completely successful. These new coins were to play an important part in the evolution of the gold coinage and pointed the way to the final suppression of the old Angel and Noble denominations. This piece, the very first Halfcrown, has an early version of the inner rose and omits the initials in the field on both sides, a variety unknown on the Crowns. It is an extremely rare coin, and only five examples are believed to have survived

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£1,900