I was thinking about when a jugate has appeared on regular issue British coins, and I can only think of two times. The first time was in the 1550s when Mary Tudor appeared with her husband, the Spanish king Philip. This was not greatest political move on her part. One of the major goals of her reign was to re-instate the Catholic Church as the official religion of England. That did not go over well with many people, and her marriage the Catholic king of Spain only raised their fears. Mary hoped they would have a Catholic offspring who would continue her religious policies. Even when she took Philip out of the line of succession, in the event that she were to die first, did not allay the fears. Of course the fact that she executed almost 300 British citizens, because of her religious views, did not make for good public relations. The British people didn’t call her “Bloody Mary” for nothing. Here is a 1555 Mary and Phillip shilling. The next British “power couple” appear together on the regular issue coins was William and Mary in the 1690s. They were crowned king and queen over the same issue. King James II was deposed because he wanted to resurrect the Catholic religion as the office state faith once again. After James II was ousted, William and Mary become co-rulers. William was actually the leader, but he was Dutch, and that did not sit well with some Englishmen. In 1689 William took charge of an English army that put down an insurgency headed up by James II who was looking regain his throne. After the battle, William ordered the execution of a group of Scottish prisoners who had allied themselves with James II at Glencoe. The Scotts roundly disliked him after that. Mary died of small pox in 1694. After that William ruled alone as king. He died in 1702 after his horse stumbled over a molehill. The Jacobites, which was the name for those who supported James II celebrated the mole, that built the hill as, “a little gentleman in a black velvet waistcoat” Here is a 1689 gold guinea, which shows William and Mary together. This piece had a value of 21 shillings. It is interesting to note the little elephant with the castle on its back at the bottom of the coin. That indicates that the gold which went into this piece came from the British African colony of Guinea, which is where this coin got its name.
Hmmm... I think there's the same elephant and castle imagery on my Lady Godiva Coventry halfpenny token (1793). I wonder what it means. It's copper, so it's not as if it's made with gold from Guinea.
