CC0 · no rights reserved
Sovereign: Henry VIII Enthroned (obverse); Royal Arms on Tudor Rose (reverse)
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
During his life Henry VII had accumulated enormous wealth, and it took his son, Henry VIII, until 1542 to squander it. Henry knew how the English coinage had been debased in the past and did not see why it should not be debased again, this time for his personal benefit. Regardless of the inevitable financial catastrophe, he grasped at this easy revenue and in his last years not only debased the gold coinage to 20 ct., but the silver also, to one part silver and two parts alloy.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineSovereign: Henry VIII Enthroned (obverse); Royal Arms on Tudor Rose (reverse), 1526–44. England, Henry VIII, 1509-1547. Gold; diameter: 4.2 cm (1 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Norweb Collection, 1969.170
Similar works
Sovereign of Thirty Shillings: Edward VI Enthroned (obverse); Shield of Royal Arms on Rose (reverse)
Sovereign: Henry VII (obverse); Shield of Arms in Tudor Rose (reverse)
Half Sovereign: Henry VIII (obverse); Crowned Arms (reverse)
Half Pound: Elizabeth I (obverse); Crowned Shield of Arms (reverse)
Sovereign of Thirty Shillings: Elizabeth I (obverse); Shield of Arms on Tudor Rose (reverse)
Noble: Edward III Standing in Ship with Shield of Arms (obverse); Ornamental Cross with Lis Terminals (reverse)