“A Very Strange Decision” and “Numismatically, Very Interesting”
Barrie Cook, a curator of medieval and early modern coins at the British Museum, says the Tudor hoard contains coins minted during the reign of Edward IV all the way through to his grandson King Henry VIII . Furthermore, most of the gold coins show “angels” on one side and images of the archangel Michael killing a dragon, as described in the Biblical Book of Revelation on the flip side. The coins from the reign of Henry VIII, Mr. Cook says, “are unusual in that they also, separately, feature the initials of three of his wives – Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.” The historian said finding the names of the controversial king’s wives on gold crowns was “a very strange decision” and, “numismatically, very interesting.”