Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals

Edward V (1483), BRITISH COINS, Edward V (1483), Angel, mm. halved sun and rose no. 1, reads di gra, 5.00g/2h (B & W XXII; Schneider 482; N 1626; S 2144A). Trace of crease on reverse, otherwise very fine and extremely rare, very few specimens known £12,000-15,000

Provenance: Found at Tolpuddle (Dorset) August 2016.

The halved sun and rose mintmark in its first incarnation can be firmly dated to the beginning of the indenture with the new mint-master Bartholomew Reed on 12 February 1483. Those angels with that mark and the legend edward dei gra are generally given to the last few weeks of Edward IV’s reign (12 February to 9 April 1483). Recent research strongly suggests that angels with the legend edward di gra should be attributed to the reign of the 12-year old boy king Edward V (9 April to 25 June 1483), probably struck under the direction of Lord Hastings, chamberlain of the royal household; the timeframe can perhaps be further reduced to 13 June, when Hastings was executed, and even to the beginning of June, when Edward was incarcerated in the Tower by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who assumed the crown as Richard III on 26 June. At some point shortly after the indenture of Robert Brackenbury as the mint-master on 20 July, some obverse dies of the edward di gra issue were altered to read ricard di gra and the mint-mark overstruck with Richard’s personal mark, a boar’s head