| Brief Description |
Silver hammered half groat from the reign of Henry VIII of England. A half groat is a twopenny coin.
The overse features a crowned bust of Henry VIII facing right within a circle of beads. The legend around the outside consists of a Catherine Wheel with the words "HENRIC VIII D G R AGL Z F".
The reverse has a shield quartered with the arms of England and France, dividing the letters "TC". Over the shield is a long cross fourchee. The legend around the rim reads "CIVITAS CANTOR".
The coin came from what is referred to as Henry VIII’s Second Coinage, 1526 to 1544, since the first, from 1509 to 1526, depicted his father Henry VII.
The TC on the reverse shows the coin was struck at the Canterbury ecclesiastical mint operated by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Cranmer was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533. In 1544 Henry VIII issued his Third Coinage with a different portrait of himself; this coin, therefore, dates from sometime between 1533 and 1544.
Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation that helped establish the Church of England with Henry as head rather than the Pope. He was also instrumental in the divorce of Henry VIII from Catherine of Aragon and in the annullment of Henry’s second marriage, to Anne Boleyn. Cramer was burnt at the stake in the reign of Mary I on 21 March 1556.
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