Irish Coinage
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Detail Image

© 2002 - Copyright
John _ Stafford-Langan
Version 1.10
15th August, 2002

This coin is a groat of Henry VII's first portrait issue, struck in Dublin in about 1495.

This is a typical obverse for the issue with the doubling on the crown.

The reverse is atypical in that it has several unusual characteristics:
The CIVITAS DVBLINIE (City of Dublin) inner legend is rotated 180 degrees from the outer legend. The outer legend is a blundered rendering of the normal legend POSVI DEVM ADIVTORE MEVM (I have made God my helper) and the more unusual PROVIDEBO ADIVTORIVM (I will provide help).

One possible reason for the blundering and the rotation is that the legend was entered on the die in the normal way and re-entered at 180 degrees to alter it. There is a coin known of Edward IV's light issue of about 1475 struck from dies altered in a similar manner from Villa Drogheda to Civitas Dublinie with similar rotation.

This coin is in Good Very Fine (GVF) condition for the type and it is unusually full. Coins of this issue are not normally found in as high a grade as this. Good Fine and clipped is more normal and even VF examples are scarce. The striking and die quality is normally quite poor and the coins are often heavily clipped.

This is the plate coin used to illustrate the type in "Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands" - Seaby - 1984 which is still an important reference on the series.

In the Seaby publication only the obverse is illustrated - which is unusual for that publication. However given the complexity of the reverse legends it is perhaps not surprising that the obverse was used to illustrate the type as it is an exceptional example but that the reverse was omitted as it conforms to neither of the subtypes listed in Seaby.

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