James II (1685 - 8) Read about James II

Gold

WAu-9442: James II Stuart 1685-88 Gold Touchpiece – Guaranteed to have been Touched by the King.  This was the official gold coin that the king (James II) personally gave to invited sufferers of Scrofula (TB) at special "Touching Ceremonies".  The monarch of the day was deemed to be an extension of God on earth and thus being touched by the monarch was effectively being touched by God. An amulet held permanently next to the skin, touched by God through the king could, it was believed, definitely cure scrofula. Another equally unlikely "remedy" for scrofula from the past was the act of passing naked children through a hole in a tree, or a hole in a stone, three times. Worthy recipients (quite poorly looking people - a reason none of the monarchs were that keen on doing any real touching!) were invited to the Touching Ceremony and were given a copper and / or brass "ticket" to allow entry. In 1635-6 alone, the mint supplied 5,500 such tickets for admission to the Touching Ceremony at a cost of 2d each to the treasury. James II first touched for the Evil, as it was then called, on March 4th 1685, just four weeks after the death of Charles II. Like those before and those after him, it was something expected of him as monarch, and definitely not something he himself relished. James II had a very short reign and that, coupled with the fact that James is recorded as using up all the old Charles II gold coins for his Touching Ceremony before getting his own commissioned (some 1,905 in total), illustrates just how rare they are under James. The elephant in the room here is the nature of the sufferers, ie a high proportion of the poor. Assuming they even had employment, and that's highly debatable if they were poorly enough with scrofula to be invited to the ceremony, the weekly wage for labourers was around 4d in 1685. To be suddenly gifted a gold coin worth a quarter of a guinea, or x60 pennies, would surely have been too much of a temptation, and even if the sufferer didn't cash the gold in during their lifetime, upon their death the amulet would have been melted down so fast that it would have had friction burns on it! Now we begin to see just how rare these relics are today. The ceremonies were performed weekly throughout the year, except on hot days.  The gold touchpiece was designed by the famous John Roettier.  In terms of price in the open market today, this SILVER touchpiece gives you an idea - sold through a major auction house in 2019: silver gilt on base metal touch piece.  Recommended reading: THE SOVEREIGN REMEDY by Noel Woolf. This gold piece is literally history in a coin (sounds vaguely familiar!) Find something / anything else for sale that's gold and is guaranteed to have been touched personally, albeit probably reluctantly, by the very short-reigned James II. £1,475

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

WCA-9217: 1687 James II Tin Halfpenny. Obverse bust of James II, right; reverse Britannia. No date in the exergue, rather within the edge legend. Copper plug intact, slabbed by PCGS as AU detail. I am unable to find this referenced coin on the PCGS database - in fact PCGS seem to hold a grand total of ZERO examples for 1687 on their database. NGC shows only three recorded examples for 1687, bizarrely, one being a 1687 with AU detail. Please note, this coin has been liberated from its life in plastic but the paperwork is still extant. All tin coins are extremely rare in this high grade. These tin coins had an alarming rate of wear from circulation and the environment (tin is much more reactive to moisture than silver or copper). 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 tin 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 (see extra image here) – 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! Exceptional edge legend, excellent detail, albeit with scratches. Also, halfpennies are much rarer than farthings. An outstanding coin. £1,250

“Other”

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

WJC-8102: 1686 James II Coronation or Accession Medal. One of the more crude and unusual medals, having a guarding lion passant one side and a large fleur-de-lis the other. GOD SAVE KING JAMES II, in English, is the legend both sides. Medallic Illustrations (i) 604/3 where it lists this particular medal as VERY RARE. £295