Description:
This silver groat coin was minted during the reign of Henry VI, who was King of England from 1422 –1461 and again from 1470 - 1471. The obverse side features the crowned bust of Henry in a tressure of arches with the Latin inscription HENRIC DI GRA REX ANGL Z FRANC "Henry by the Grace of God King of England and France." The reverse shows a long cross with the legend POSVI DEUM ADIVTOREM MEUM VILLA CALISIE “I have made God my helper, Town of Calais."
In 1422, Henry VI was crowned King of England at the age of nine months after his father, King Henry V, died unexpectedly in France after a string of military victories in the Hundred Years' War. Shortly afterwards, his grandfather King Charles VI of France died and Henry VI became the only English monarch to also have been crowned King of France. However, by the time his regency ended in 1437, the English had suffered many military defeats in France at the hands of Charles VII with the aid of Joan of Arc. Henry's inability to prevent a collapse in the French campaign, along with economic problems, lead to widespread dissatisfaction, sparking a civil war known as the Wars of the Roses in 1455.
Henry was deposed by Edward IV after a resounding defeat at the Battle of Towton in 1461. His kingship was restored for a short time in 1470, however, he was deposed again after the death of his only son Edward in the Battle of Tewkesbury. Henry was imprisoned in the Tower of London and died shortly after on May 21, 1471.
