Lot 285
Great Britain. Gold Crown of the Double-Rose, ND. S-2279. 3.67 grams. Henry VIII, 1509-1547. Henry & Jane Seymour issue (1536-1537). Crowned double rose, crowned letters H and I on either side. Reverse: Crowned shield, crowned letters H and I on either side. Arrow or pheon mintmark. A particularly choice example, lustrous and struck on a nearly full flan, showing sharp legends and motif details. NGC graded MS-63.
To the public, Henry VIII is remembered only for his nearly manic obsession to sire a male heir, and the six wives he went through to achieve that end. In his time, though, he was one of the more enlightened princes, with the potential for great achievements -- some of which he eventually realized. Perhaps his most significant achievement, ironically, was to sire his second daughter, by Anne Boleyn, the future queen, Elizabeth.
During his extraordinary life he maintained the political and governmental direction initiated by his father. Early in his reign he waged wars to further consolidate royal power, along with renewing claims to French territory. He even received an acclamation from the Pope, as "Defender of the Faith," for writing a treatise denouncing the radical ideals of Martin Luther. But then came the problem of needing a male heir. The importance of unruffled dynastic succession was surely inculcated into his mind by the decades of trauma brought on by the War of the Roses, to which his father finally brought surcease. Out of this need that drove Henry resulted the separation of Papal influence from England, along with the strengthening of royal authority, since the king was now both legal head of the nation and titular head of the country's faith. More importantly, his break from the Vatican was achieved by law, rather than the more tumultuous "popular outcry." Henry's legacy, finally, might be seen in that he would embody the modern concept of a ruler as the "ideological icon of the state."
Estimated Value $2,500 - 3,000.
Ex Dr Jacob Y. Terner Collection (by private treaty to the Millennia Collection).
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| Realized $17,250 |
