Collection record · Small worlds
Half Sovereign: Edward VI (obverse); Crowned Royal Arms (reverse)
The collection record classifies this work as coins. It is dated 1549–50. Recorded culture or place: England, Edward VI, 1547-1553.
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A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Half Sovereign: Edward VI (obverse); Crowned Royal Arms (reverse)
- Date
- 1549–50
- Culture / origin
- England, Edward VI, 1547-1553
- Materials and technique
- gold
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 2.9 cm (1 1/8 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1969.175
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
During the first coinage period, April 1547 to January 1549, debased coinage was still issued. Part of it still had the name and portrait of Henry VIII; part of it the name of Henry, but a youthful portrait; and part of it the name of Edward. The series is thus complex and some of the chronology open to doubt. In 1549, the beginning of the second coinage period, the first step was taken to restore the standard of the coinage. Gold, including the piece shown, was struck in 22 ct. This coin shows the young king uncrowned, the only occasion on which the king's portrait is so shown.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · The Norweb Collection · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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