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

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.