Crown of the Double Rose: Crowned Double Rose (obverse); Crowned Royal Arms (reverse)

1526–33

England, Henry VIII, 1509-1547

View all records in artwork set

Medium

gold

Measurements

Diameter: 2.5 cm (1 in.)
Weight: 3.697 g (0.13 oz.)

Credit Line

The Norweb Collection 1969.172

You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.

Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Henry VIII placed the initials of three of his queens on some of his coins, the only occasion on which this has been done on the English coinage.

Description

For the first time the Crown of the Double Rose makes it appearance. On these coins the motto Rutilans Rosa Sine Spine, a dazzling rose without a thorn, follows the king's name on the obverse. The crowned initials on either side of the rose are those of Henry and his first queen, Katherine (or Catherine) of Aragon. Since Henry divorced Katherine in 1533, the date of this piece must fall between 1526 and 1533. It was this divorce which helped to bring about the fall of the famous Cardinal Wolsey, the beheadings of Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher, and the separation of the English Church from that of Rome.