Date: 1558

Description:

An Irish groat of Philip & Mary, dated 1558 and mintmark Rose

• Base 0.250 fine silver
• The toothed border around (as usual) is mostly not present
  • This is probably due to clipping, more so than normal wear & tear

Obverse:

• Facing busts of Philip II of Spain and Mary I, with pellet between
• Crown above, with date (year) split to either side, no mintmark
• The legend is situated outside an inner circle of beads
• Legend:
  • “PHILIP Z MARIA D G REX Z RE GINA A”
    • Translation:
    • “Philip and Mary, by the Grace of God, King and Queen of England“
  • Philip was also:
    • King of Portugal (1581–98, as Philip I
    • King of Naples and Sicily (both from 1554)
    • Duke of Milan
    • Lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands (from 1555)

Reverse:

• Crowned Irish harp, with crowned initials “P” and “M” to either side
• Mintmark rose
• Legend:
  • “POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTO NOSTR”
    • Translation:
    • “We have made the Lord our helper“

Notes:

Mary Tudor was the only child of Henry VIII by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive to adulthood. Her younger half-brother Edward VI succeeded their father in 1547 at the age of nine.

When Edward became mortally ill in 1553, he attempted to remove Mary from the line of succession because he supposed, correctly, that she would reverse the Protestant reforms that had begun during his reign.

• • Upon his death, leading politicians proclaimed Lady Jane Grey as queen
  • Mary speedily assembled a force in East Anglia and deposed Jane, who was ultimately beheaded
  • Mary was—excluding the disputed reigns of Jane and the Empress Matilda—the first queen regnant of England
  • In 1554, Mary married Philip of Spain, becoming queen consort of Habsburg Spain on his accession in 1556.

Mary’s attempt to restore to the Roman Catholic Church the property confiscated in the previous two reigns was largely thwarted by parliament, but during her five-year reign, Mary had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions.

• • This led to her denunciation as “Bloody Mary” by her Protestant opponents

Country:

• Ireland

Category:

• Anglo-Norman
  • House of Tudor
• Philip of Spain & (Bloody) Mary I (1553-1558)
  • the only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, to survive infancy
• Hammered

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Further Reading:

• Check List: Irish Tudor & Stuart Coinage

Other Coins in this Series:

• Philip & Mary

• • Shilling (1553-54)
    • 1555
      • 1555 var. “RIGINA  AN“
  • Groat (1555-58)
    • 1555
      • 1555, with reverse mintmark Portcullis
      • 1555, with reverse mintmark Cinquefoil
    • 1556
      • 1556, with reverse mintmark Rose
      • 1556, with reverse mintmark Portcullis + legend “REGI”
      • 1556, with reverse mintmark Cinquefoil
    • 1557
      • 1557, with mintmark Rose on both sides + legends “REGINA A.” and “ADIVTOREM”
      • 1557, with mintmark Rose on both sides + legends “REGINA A.” and “ADITOREM”
      • 1557, with mintmark Rose on both sides + legends “REGINA” and “ADIVTO.”
      • 1557, with reverse mintmark Rose + legends “REGINA A.” and “ADIVTO.”
      • 1557, with reverse mintmark Rose + legends “REGINA ANG.” and “ADIVTO.”
      • 1557, with reverse mintmark Rose + legends “REGINA.” and “ADIVTO.”
      • 1557, with reverse mintmark Rose + legends “REGINA.” and “NOST.”
      • 1557, with reverse mintmark Rose + legends “REGINA.” and “NOS.”
    • 1558
      • 1558, with reverse mintmark Rose    <<< You are here
        
  • English-type Penny (made for circulation in Ireland)
    • CIVITAS LONDON