![Henry VI, Noble, Annulet issue, London 1422-1430. MS63 [ECH-108] - Image 2](https://colonialcoins.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ECH-108-1.jpg)
Description
Kingdom of England, Henry VI of the House of Lancaster, cadet branch of the House of Plantagenet, as King of England in his first reign 1422-1461 AD and as King of France 1422-1453 AD, Gold Noble, Annulet issue 1422 – circa 1430 AD, Royal mint, London. Obverse: Half-length figure of King Henry VI, crowned and armoured and wielding a sword in his right hand and an Escutcheon, baring the Arms of the Royal Houses of England and France, in his left, large annulet below right hand; he stands within an English Cog which features prominent castellated forecastle and aftercastle, and a central mast with two stern and a single prow rigging ropes, inner beaded border and legend – with Lis and trefoil stops – surrounds, “ɦЄꞂRIC· DI· GRΛ· RЄX· ΛꞂGL· & FRΛꞂC· DꞂS· ɦIB”. Reverse: Central ornate quadrilobe inscribed with the initial “ɦ” (for ‘Hēnrīcus’) central, each lobe surmounted with small trefoil, positioned over a decorative Cross Fleury, each limb ornamented with transverse lines and terminating with a Lis flanked by pair of large, stylized trefoils, a Lion passant guardant below royal crown in each angle; all within double tressure of arches forming an octolobe, small trefoil within each spandrel except for single annulet in upper right, beaded border and legend – with annulet and single five-pointed star stops – surrounds, “IɦC: ΛVTЄM: TRΛNSIЄNS: PЄR: MЄDIV: ILLORVM: IBΛT”. North-1414; S-1799. Certified and graded by NGC as Mint State 63. A superb example of the second last king to issue the gold Noble of six shillings & eight pence, very attractive in hand despite the slight rustiness of the obverse die, a superior example and highly sought after as a result.
Ex. Astley Collection (Annotated on NGC Slab)
The obverse Latin legend is the royal titulature of King Richard II, reading unabridged as “Hēnrīcus, Deī Grātiā, rēx Angliae et Franciae, Dominus Hiberniae”, with an English translation of “Henry, by the grace of God, King of England and France, Lord of Ireland”. The reverse Latin legend is a verse from Latin Vulgate Bible, Luke 4:30, reading unabridged as “Iēsūs autem trānsiēns per medium illōrum ībat”, with an English translation of “But Jesus, passing through their midst, went His way”.
King Henry VI, the Boy King.
A member of the House of Lancaster, a cadet branch of the English Royal House of Plantagenet, Henry VI was crowned in 1422 at the young age of 8 months after the sudden death of his father, King Henry V – the youngest person ever to assume the English throne. Not only this, Henry VI is the only English King to become the titular King of France as a result of his father’s military triumphs at the Battle of Agincourt over a decade earlier, resulting in the disinheritance of the heirs of King Charles VI of France as a result of the Treaty of Troyes. Henry VI was formerly coronated as King of England on the 6th November 1429 AD at Westminster Abbey, and as King of France at age 10 on the 16th December 1431 AD at the Notre-Dame de Paris.
In contention to Henry VI’s hold of the French throne was Charles VII, the son of King Charles VI, who was styled as King of France after his father’s death much like the English boy king – in reality though, he was often, disparagingly so, styled “King of Bourges” due to the limited territory that still supported the House of Valois. Charles VII’s military and political position only took a turn when the divinely-guided Jeanne d’Arc emerged as a spiritual leader in France, achieving victories over the English and pushing for the formal coronation of Charles VII as King. This took place on the 17th July 1429 AD after the English were defeated at the Battle of Patay – this forced the city of Reims, the traditional place where French kings were coronated, to switch allegiance from the English-supporting faction to the House of Valois, enabling for Charles VII’s coronation. Successive French victories had all but removed England’s hold over French territory, only maintaining control over Calais, and by the 19th October 1453 AD Henry VI of England’s disputed claim as King of France had ended.
At the time of losing the French throne, Henry VI was experiencing a severe, prolonged state of mental and physical withdrawal – modern historians believe it as a catatonic stupor, possibly linked to schizophrenia or a severe depressive/catatonic episode, and potentially inherited from his maternal grandfather, Charles VI of France, who suffered similar breakdowns. By 1454 AD, as his senses returned to him, the English political scene began its descent into disarray; disaffected nobles began backing the House of York, another cadet branch of the House of Plantagenet, to control the government, and eventually, in 1460 AD, the English throne itself – the beginning of the War of Roses.
After many years of attempts at reconciliation, tensions between each House led to civil war, and the King was captured after a Lancastrian defeat at the Battle of Northampton on the 10th July 1460 AD. Henry VI remained imprisoned for a year until being liberated by his wife, Queen Margaret of Anjou, defeated the Earl of Warwick at the Second Battle of St Albans, after which the king remained in exile, seeking refuge between various Lancastrian supporters, whilst Margaret, with their son, fled to France.
Henry VI’s freedom was short-lived, however, as on the 3rd July 1465 AD he was captured once again when he was in hiding in Waddington, Lancashire, at the home of Sir Richard Tempest. He was held captive in the Tower of London thereafter, all the while his wife, out of the newly established Lancastrian Court in France, attempted to gather military support. Five years later, the Yorkist King, Edward IV, had fallen out of favour with two of his main supporters: Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and his own younger brother George, Duke of Clarence, both of which, with the intervention of the French King Louis XI, formed an alliance with the House of Lancaster. The Earl of Warwick returned to England and forced King Edward IV into exile and the ‘Readeption of Henry VI’ on the 3rd October 1470 AD.
Henry VI’s second reign as King of England was short-lived, lasting less than six months, and due to his severely deteriorated mental state the English parliament was dominated by his benefactors, the Earl of Warwick and Duke of Clarence. In early 1471 AD, Richard Neville of Warwick, declared war on the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, as a consequence of the deal brokered with King Louis XI of France. Although forced to as part of their arrangement, this move was premature and led to the Lancastrian faction’s downfall; in response, Charles of Burgundy supported Edward IV of the House of York, leading to two subsequent decisive Yorkist victories at the Battle of Barnet on the 14th April and the Yorkists won a final decisive victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury on the 4th May, where Henry’s son Edward of Westminster was killed. King Henry VI was imprisoned in the Tower of London once again, and soon after was found dead.
Overall, Henry VI is largely seen as a weak, inept king, whose inability to rule effectively led to the civil war with the House of York – the Wars of the Roses. He favoured diplomacy rather than all-out war with the French in the Hundred Years’ War – a stark contrast to his father, Henry V, who led the English to victory at Agincourt. Numismatically speaking, however, his reign, as well as this gold Noble, is a fascinating piece of history: the youngest ever person to ascend the English throne, the only English King to be coronated as the King of France, the reigning monarch which saw the end of the Hundred Years’ War and the start of the War of the Roses, and a contemporary of France’s comeback under Jeanne d’Arc.
