| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 145 with CNG & NGSA | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 1191 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: The Geoffrey Cope Collection of British Coins. Henry VIII. 1509-1547. AR Groat (27.5mm, 3.38 g, 10h). Tournai mint. Dated 1513. hENRIC'· 8'· dI · GRA · FRANCIE : ET : ANGLIE : REX , crowned coat-of-arms; lis to left, lion to right / CIVITAS TORNΛ CENSIS : 1 : 5 : 1 : 3, long voided cross fourchée with three bars on each limb; h in central quatrefoil; lis and lions passant in alternating quarters. M. Hoc, "Le monnayage tournaisien de Henri VIII roi d'Anglterre," in RBN 98 (1952), 1.1a and pl. IV, 1 (this coin); Lionell M. Hewlett, "Anglo-Gallic Coins," in NC 19 (1919), type 1; Vanhoudt G418; Whitton –; North –; SCBC p. 242 note; Ruding Annals 3rd (1840) ed. Supplement Part II, Pl. XII, no. 9 - this coin illustrated. Deep old tone. Good VF. Of the highest rarity. Ex F. Brady (Spink 209, 6 October 2011), lot 290; Spink Numismatic Circular XCVIII (May 1990), no. 2521; Spink Numismatic Circular LXXIX (June 1971), no. 6819; Philippi (Glendining, 8 July 1970), lot 59; W. Boyne (Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge, 26 June 1896), lot 130; J.D. Cuff (Sotheby & Wilkinson, 8 June 1854), lot 2190 (£7/7/-); Duke of Devonshire (Christie's, 26 March 1844), lot 196 (£11/-). 1513 was a glorious year for the 22-year-old Henry VIII. In June he sailed to Calais to lead an English invasion of northern France. On the 16th of August the English army, together with the forces of Henry's ally, the emperor Maximillian, won a stunning victory against the French at the Battle of the Spurs. On 9th September a Scottish army, that had invaded northern England at the behest of Louis XII of France, was routed at Flodden Field by an English force. James IV, the Scottish king, died in the battle; his bloodied coat and gauntlets were recovered as trophies and were sent by Katherine of Aragon to Henry, to display before the walls of the now besieged city of Tournai. Tournai fell on the 23rd September and Henry made a ceremonial entry into the city two days later. The mint of Tournai commemorated the event with a very limited issue of coins in Henry's name dated 1513, the first time a date appears on a coin struck by an English monarch. Two distinct types are known both derived from contemporary issues of Burgundian Low Countries. One which has a crowned shield on obverse and, on the reverse, a cross in tressure with a cinquefoil in centre, is known from a unique specimen in the British Museum. The other - the type offered here - has a lis and leopard flanking the shield on the obverse and, on the reverse, an h in centre of a cross with lis and leopards in alternate angles. This later type is known from the two specimens in the British Museum and the present coin. A more substantive issue of a groats of the English type, bearing he portrait of Henry's late father and with a crowned 't' mint mark, followed later. Estimate: 10000 CHF |  |
