King James II

 

 

14 October 1633– 16 September 1701

 

James was the last Catholic to rule in England.  He was suspected of planning to free Catholics from persecution in England, and of planning a return to absolute rule by the king.  Parliament was not having that!  When he produced a Catholic heir, they had had enough.  They invited his sister Mary and her husband William of Orange from Holland to take up the throne as Protestant monarchs in the Glorious Revolution, and after fleeing to France, James was assumed to have abdicated.  He led a rebellion to try to regain the throne through Ireland, hence all the Irish coins, but was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne.  End of story, except for his parallel court as the pretender in France till his death.  His son, styled James III became known as the Old Pretender and in turn his son became known as Bonnie Prince Charlie who tried to regain the English throne for his father through invasion from Scotland.  But, it did not happen.  They all lived through: William and Mary, Anne, George I and into the reign of George II.

 

 

 

 

I just got tired of searching.  There are plenty of Maundy coins.  I prefer general circulation.  There are plenty of Irish coins and Gun Money coins in various metals.  I just do not want those, despite being better coins for less money.  However, regular circulation coins in a metal like silver  are just wayyyyy tooo expensive.  It would be a different matter if I liked the Stuarts, but I am now searching for the big boys like William I, William II, Henry I and Stephen.  I cannot seem to justify an expensive coin for James II, soooo here is a tin farthing from 1684 to 1687.
Even this coin in good condition can go for 3,000 pounds!  This is in poor condition, but is recognizable, which is my minimum requirement for representation in my collection.

 

 

This tin farthing with a copper plug in the middle was $63.00.  These coins tend to be heavily corroded, so there are few in decent condition.  This is the best I could find.  It will be interesting to see what conditions this needs for good preservation.

This coin was not available at this posting.  I do not own one.