The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of November 9, 2025

Two sides of a gold coin with an inscription circling an image on both sides (see "Inscriptions" field). On the left, two rows of wavy petals surrounding seeds suggest a rose, crowned and flanked by a crowned "h" and "k." On the right, is a crowned coat of arms divided into four sections. The upper left and lower right sections feature three stylized fleur-de-lis lilies and the remaining sections three elongated and barely discernable lions.

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

1526–33

England, Henry VIII, 1509-1547

gold
Diameter: 2.5 cm (1 in.)
The Norweb Collection 1969.172
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.
  • -1969
    Mrs. Emery May Holden Norweb (1895-1984), Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1969-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cleveland Museum of Art, and Emery May Norweb. English Gold Coins, Ancient to Modern Times, On Loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art from the Norweb Collection. [Catalog. 1968. p. 31
  • Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).
    English Gold Coins: Ancient to Modern Times. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1963).
  • {{cite web|title=Crown of the Double Rose: Crowned Double Rose (obverse); Crowned Royal Arms (reverse)|url=false|author=|year=1526–33|access-date=09 November 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.172