page_title: History of the English penny (1485–1603)
section_title: Henry VII
hierarchical_section_title: History of the English penny (1485–1603) / The Tudors (1485–1603) / Henry VII
caption_attribution_description: English: Medieval silver penny of Henry VII (1485-1509), sovereign type (king enthroned), no initial mark, minted at Durham under Bishop Richard Fox (1494-1501), North 1731.
context_page_description: The History of the English penny from 1485 to 1603 covers the period of the Tudor dynasty.
context_section_description: Henry Tudor, who reigned as King Henry VII between 1485 and 1509, had a rather tenuous claim on the throne, being the Lancastrian claimant via an illegitimate descendant of Edward III when all the more senior candidates had been killed off in the Wars of the Roses. He brought the wars to a conclusion with his 1485 victory at The Battle of Bosworth and subsequently consolidated this power through a variety of means, including his marriage to Elizabeth of York (which united the two warring dynasties.) Henry VII's reign was plagued by pretenders to the throne, whose existence was a result of the King's initially insecure grasp of power. Nevertheless, he was able to subdue each of these attempted usurpers without particular difficulty. The whole style of Henry's coinage marked a break with what had gone before — the king's bust becomes much more lifelike, and the shields on the reverse become much more detailed. Henry's first coinage is very like that of Henry V and VI, minted at London, Canterbury, Durham and York the inscription is one of a variety of HENRIC DI GRA REX ANG — Henry by the grace of God King of England. Soon, however, Henry introduced what is known as the Sovereign coinage, so-called because the king is depicted seated on a throne, while the reverse shows the royal shield over a cross. This issue is regarded as marking the division between the coins of the Middle Ages and of the Renaissance in England. The Sovereign coinage was minted at London, Durham, and York, and inscribed with one of a variety of HENRICUS DI GRA REX ANG.
caption: Silver penny of Henry VII.
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