Does anyone know way a pair of keys were placed on either side of King Henry VII's portrait on this two pence? I have not been able to find anything about in the reference books other than they are there. Sorry for the quality of the photo, but things are kind of hectic right now.
It is possibly to do with the War of the Roses between Lancaster and York. Henry (Lancaster) finally won the war at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. To enhance peace he married Elizabeth (York). The keys could be symbolic of the joining in marriage of the two families. If not, it is a nice piece of history, LOL
I only found one instance of the keys and this is what was typed about it: "Nearing the end of his life when this coin was issued, Henry was devastated by the deaths of his son, Arthur, and wife, Elizabeth of York (a marriage that had helped bring the Wars of the Roses to an end)."
The problem with that theory is that this piece is in the medieval style which was earlier in his reign. Later the mint issued the profile coinage which bore a real resemblance to the king.
The keys show it was minted under the authority of Archbishop Savage at York, date 1504-9 according to Coins of England. Three varieties (S2214-6) and I've no doubt a specialist could identify which one this coin is - beyond my pay grade I fear.
I wondered if it had some ecclesiastical significance, given that the keys made me think of the papal coat of arms.
The keys are indicative of the Archbishop's mint at York. Keys are seen on the coins of the archbishops Thomas Rotherham (1480-1500), Thomas Savage (1501-1507), and Christopher Bainbridge (1508-1514). In fact, if you go back a bit earlier, keys are also seen on the ecclesiastic coinage of the archbishops George Neville (1465-1476) and Lawrence Booth (1476-1480) during the reign of Edward IV. Your particular halfgroat is attributed to archbishop Savage (1501-1507). Based on the mintmark, the issue is given as 1502-1504. Interestingly, this was when the profile coinage was being introduced, with the testoon (shilling) and tentative groat, but the halfgroat retained the "medieval" portrait style. It should be noted that both the facing bust "medieval" style and profile "Renaissance" style coins were produced alongside each other for a time- there was overlap and they did not follow in strict sequence. Also, the detail of the bust on the late profile groats is much more artistic than the stylized portraits on the earlier coins of Henry VII, and all of the Plantagenet coins. I don't have an ecclesiastic coin from Henry VII, or a halfgroat, or one from York. But here are two of my Henry VII coins- both groats, one from the earlier facing bust style, and one from the later profile style:
York Minster, which dates from 627AD has always been dedicated to St. Peter - hence the keys. As Nap said, the keys were associated with the York episcopal mint under various archbishops dating from the reign of Edward IV, but episcopal issues terminated following the split with Rome during the reign of Henry VIII. Wolsey didn't use the keys, marking his coins with the cardinal's hat, and Abp. Lee used the key as the initial mark as opposed to placing it in the field. Apart from these two, a key (or two) were placed somewhere on the coin. An Archbishop Neville penny (Edward IV) with a key to the right of the neck Archbishop Rotherham 'Sovereign' penny with keys to the reverse. Archbishop Bainbridge profile issue halfgroat keys to the reverse Archbishop Lee halfgroat with the key used as the initial mark.
