Noble: Henry VI in Ship with Shield of Arms (obverse); Ornamental Cross with Lis Terminals (reverse) (1422–61): Art, History and Details

Noble: Henry VI in Ship with Shield of Arms (obverse); Ornamental Cross with Lis Terminals (reverse) (1422–61) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The Nobles of Henry VI were very much like those of the previous reign. The system of varying the stops, as annulets, pinecones, mascles, and so forth was introduced to help simplify the changes of privy marks, over 150 which helped identify the coin and where it was minted, which were required for the king's long reign.

Object facts

• Title: Noble: Henry VI in Ship with Shield of Arms (obverse); Ornamental Cross with Lis Terminals (reverse)
• Date: 1422–61
• Culture: England, Henry VI, 1422-1461 (restored 1470-1471)
• Type: Coins
• Technique: gold
• Dimensions: Diameter: 3.4 cm (1 5/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Numismatics
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1969.165

A detail from the museum

Although struck throughout the reign of Henry VI, a shortage of gold meant fewer coins were being struck.

Collection credit

The Norweb Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Emery May Norweb. English Gold Coins, Ancient to Modern Times, On Loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art from the Norweb Collection. [Catalog. 1968.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.