James II (1685 - 8) Read about James II
Gold
WAu-7191: James II Gold Touch-Piece:
Guaranteed to have been personally touched by King James II. An ancient practice – that of The Devine (the
monarchy was seen very much as a physical, tangible extension of God) healing
sufferers of Scrofula (Tuberculosis) – dating as far back as Henry II. All subsequent monarchs took some part in the
ceremony (William & Mary refused because William was not of English royal
decent) although Henry VIII was the most reluctant. Interestingly, although somewhat disinclined
due to an unwillingness to mingle with the common man, it was Henry who
initiated the design of St George and the dragon on subsequent Touching
Ceremony gold coins. Although James’s
brother, King Charles II, was an enthusiastic believer in the divine right of
kings, James was actually more prolific in his touching, the
number of sick being brought to him being as much as 14,364 in one year. Clearly James II had an extremely short-lived
reign, and it must be noted that for the first months of touching, he actually
used the left over Charles II gold pieces – some 1,905 of them. Again, the new touch-pieces were the work of
John Roettier.
It is estimated that 1% of the London population suffered during this
time), so James was never short of participants. Interestingly, his ultimately toxic religious
views seemed to have mattered very little to the average man in the street who
was suffering from this extremely unpleasant disease – if James II could cure
him, bring it on! James II personally
attended these ceremonies and physically handed the touch-piece to each and
every sufferer. Sufferers were invited
and issued with an official Ticket-Pass to admit them to the ceremony. You gave your Ticket-Pass in at the door,
entered the ceremony, got touched by the king, received your gold coin from the
king himself and hopefully left as a cured individual. The Ticket-Token were collected and re-issued
for the next Touching Ceremony. James II
touched no less than 12,000 a year during his short reign. Touching Ceremonies were scheduled weekly,
although never when the weather was warm.
Under Charles II, in 1684 the size of the gold touch-pieces were reduced
and this was maintained under James. The
value of these pieces was some 5 shillings so very few would have survived the
temptation of being spent as currency and thus quickly melted down upon numerous
currency recalls, not least upon the death of monarchs. Very rare indeed; more so due to the
shortness of King James’s reign. £1,850 RESERVED (L.T.3-9-23)
Silver
Crowns
WCA-5385: 1687 James II Full
Silver Crown. TERTIO edge (normal
lettering) but the 8 of the date is distinctly odd, looking more like a lower
case “g”. No over-date is listed in ESC
for this or any of the J.II crowns. £575
WCA-5957: 1687 James II Full Silver
Crown. Interestingly
modified to incorporate x2 small blades.
See images here
and here. £275
WCA-5393: 1687 James II Full Silver
Crown – Birthing Love Token. TERTIO edge. “G W 1798”. Once
again, as in WCA-5230, a 100+ year old coin was chosen for the engraving. £279
Tin
WCA-7145:
1686 James II
Tin Halfpenny. Copper
plug intact, slabbed by Numismatic Guaranty
Corporation as XF45 – the lower end of the EF grade bandwidth. All tin coins are extremely rare in this high
grade with this date (the rarest of all three dates) stated as Very Rare by
Peck. Further, the coin database shows
this to be only the second example of a 1686 being offered on the open market
since 2003, the other being ex Dr Nicholson collection. These
tin coins had an alarming rate of wear from circulation. The Ferryman’s hoard
of W&M tin coins from the River Thames in the 1970’s was made up of 1690
through to 1692 tin coins. There were no copper 1694 coins leading to the
conclusion that the purse was dropped into the Thames
1693 or earlier. Of the many coins, the 1690’s were all very worn, the 1691’s
quite worn and the 1692’s being at least somewhat worn. The 1690’s coins could
only have been in circulation for three years or so
but they were all very worn. Even the coins that had been in circulation for
only up to a year or so were worn. This illustrates just how hard it is to find
high grade tin coinage. As well as wear, the tin coinage corrodes in air and
the soil (tin was far too reactive a metal to be used for coinage) so high
grade examples are at a premium. Counterfeiting was clearly a consideration as every
tin coin that left the mint had a copper plug – designed as an anti
counterfeiting measure. Perhaps the Mint
ought to have had similar considerations just a few decades on, during the mid
to late 1700’s, when towards the end of the century, counterfeit (and we’re
talking really obvious / very little effort re dies or even the final product)
“copper” coins literally outnumbered the genuine coinage in circulation! Choice. £1,950
“Other”
WCA-5487: 1688 James II Large
Silver “Religious” Medal. A
crown-sized medal commemorating Archbishop Sancroft
and six Bishops being committed to the Tower for not agreeing to the religious
dictates of James II. This all came to a
head in the Spring of 1688 when James VII of Scotland / James II of England ordered his Declaration of Indulgence. This suspended penal laws against Catholics
and was to be read from every Anglican pulpit in England. The Church of England
and its staunchest supporters, the peers and gentry, were naturally
outraged. Interestingly, James was a protestant
although on his deathbed he did convert to Catholicism. Sancroft (actually an
Archbishop) wrote with his own hand the petition presented in 1688 against the
reading of James II Declaration of Indulgence (granting broad religious freedom
in England by suspending penal laws enforcing conformity to the Church of
England and allowing people to worship in their homes or chapels as they saw
fit), which was signed by himself and six of his suffragans
(collectively known as the Seven Bishops). For this they (of whom Sancroft was oldest, at 71) were all committed to the Tower of London by the King. This medal was struck under James at the end
of his reign (he “vacated” the throne and headed to Ireland, latterly heading
for France under the protection of Louis XIV) and, along with the birth of James's
son and heir James Francis Edward (The future Scottish “Old Pretender”) who
threatened to create a Roman Catholic dynasty and excluding his Anglican
daughter Mary and her Protestant husband William III of Orange from the thrown,
was entirely responsible for premature departure of the monarch. This was a monumental event in 1688,
impacting the wider population of the country in all quarters. In case you were worried about the Bishops,
they were released from The Tower.
However, Archbishop Sancroft appears to have
not coveted an easy life because just two years later, the Archbishop was deprived
of his office in 1690 for refusing to swear allegiance to William and Mary. The ironic thing in all this is that
Archbishop Sancroft was the official at the King’s
coronation – he effectively made him king!!
Truth is stranger than
fiction! £425
WCA-7687:
1685-88 James II Ticket
or Pass for Admittance to King James’ Palace. Brass, sixpence face value, MY 64, W.1190. Image showing
tickets here. From a very short reign and only for the
well-healed in society as sixpence in those days was a lot of money. £295
