William & Mary Silver Half-Crown 1689

Description

Denomination: Silver half-crown

Period: House of Stuart

Date: 1689

Origin: London mint

Condition: About fine. portraits slightly weak

Obverse: Conjoined 1st busts of William and Mary. right. legend around

Reverse: First crowned shield. frosting of caul and pearls on crown. regnal year PRIMO to edge but not readable

Size and Weight: 32.5mm. 14.44g

References: Spink 3434

Features and Provenance:  When Mary heard she was to marry her cousin William. a stranger and a foreigner too. she is said to have cried for two days; despite this they married in 1677. William of Orange was invited to Britain from Holland to conserve protestantism and to replace the catholic James II; he succeeded in a bloodless and yet ‘Glorious Revolution’ in 1688. A ‘Bill of Rights’ was then declared to restrict the power of the monarchy and by proclamation of parliament William and Mary became joint rulers of Britain in 1689. They had no children and Mary died in 1694. William continued to rule on this own.

Condition Summary. This varies with the age of coin and there are grades between

Uncirculated (U). As struck with no traces of wear

Extremely Fine (EF). Very slight traces of wear. all parts of legend etc present. visible and clear

Very Fine (VF). Some signs of wear on the higher parts of the relief. all parts of legend etc present. but maybe worn

Fine (F). Wear on the coin and parts of legend etc may be missing or not visible