Money Monday - English Philip & Mary Shilling (1554)

Obverse: PHILIP ET MARIA D G R ANG FR NEAP PR HISP [Philip and Mary by the grace of God regents of England, France, Naples, Portugal and Spain

Reverse: POSVIMVS DEVM ADIVTOREM NOSTRVM [We have made God our helper]

Queen Mary I was the only daughter of Henry VIII and his (first) wife Catherine of Aragon. Her stubborn refusal to have been born a boy could be said to have set in motion the schism between England and the Papacy, the formation of the Church of England and her father’s long train of unsuccessful marriages.

Queen of England and Ireland from 1553 until her death in 1558, she earned the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’ by executing a lot of Protestants. This is in stark contrast to her sickly, Protestant half-brother who preceded her, Edward VI, and her successor, Elizabeth I. In fact, Mary’s death would be one of the final nails in the coffin of an established Catholic church in England.

The man sharing the Obverse of the coin and crown depicted on it is Philip II of Spain, possibly the most Catholic person in the world bar the Pope and who infamously launched the unsuccessful Spanish Armada against Mary’s successor, Elizabeth I, in 1588. Issued at the beginning of their marriage, this coin shows both Philip’s and Mary’s coats of arms as well as showing the date in Arabic numerals. Arabic numerals had been known in Europe for centuries but it was the adoption of the Printing Press in the 14th century which accelerated their use, and by this point were obviously accepted enough to be used on coinage without any confusion.

Although England was technically ruled between Philip and Mary it was the latter who held real power, and which incidentally makes her our first Queen Regnent (the same as Elizabeth II today). Between them they owned England, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, as well as territories on every continent then known to Europeans. It was not a happy marriage, however, sparking Wyatt’s rebellion and the tragic beheading of Lady Jane Grey (shown in the painting above). Sickly, childless and unloved, she died in 1558 at St James’s Palace.

Her husband is said to have written, ‘I felt a reasonable regret for her death.’

Coins featured in Money Monday are a part of the University of Reading’s Stenton Coin Collection. For more information or to view the collection, please contact us: specialcollections@reading.ac.uk

