James II Gunmoney Half Crown

Given the amount of help I've received from the forum I really thought I'd better "give back" and so I thought you might well enjoy seeing this coin, one of the best examples of its type I've ever seen, let alone held.

For those who don't know, James II went into self imposed exile in France when Parliament invited WIlliam of Orange to assume the British throne in 1688 bringing in "The Glorious Revolution", as it was known in England. James raised support in France in the form of money and men before returning to Ireland to raise forces to retake his throne. The result was "The War of the Two Kings" or the Williamite Wars which effectively began the troubles that resonate through Ireland to the present.

In 1689, running low on coinage to pay his troops, James II minted a number of coins from gunmetal, church bells and anything else they could lay their hands on. Effectively, these were tokens which were intended to be redeemed at a later date. First minted in Dublin and later in Limerick, these coins bore not only the date but the month of striking so that they could be repaid in order. Of course, James lost the war and these coins were rounded up and destroyed in the early 1670s. This particular coin would have been struck to pay over-wintering Irish troops.