Coins, Historical Medals & Paper Money

Henry VIII (1509-1547), Third coinage, Testoon, mm. pellet-in-annulet, a contemporary cast copy in base metal, obv. sleeve stops, countermarked with a Tudor rose in a pentangle, rev. saltire stops, reads adivtorivm, 4.33g/4h (Jacob dies O –/R –; N 1841; S 2365). Large chip or cut at 11 o’clock, about fine, extremely rare, an interesting research item £300-400

Provenance: DNW Auction 84, 10 December 2009, lot 163.

This coin is countermarked in a similar way to the later base shillings of Edward VI when their face value was cried down in Elizabethan times by the application of a portcullis or greyhound stamp. No records exist however for similar counterstamping of Henry VIII testoons