British King James II became king upon the death of his brother, Charles II. Charles had fathered many children. The trouble was none of them were children of the queen. Charles had many girl friends with whom he had an estimated 16 children. None of them could become king or queen because they were illegitimate. Therefore the crown passed to Charles brother, James. James was a devout Catholic who was ruling over a Protestant nation. His appointment of Catholics to key position in the government resulted howls of protest. He was deposed in a bloodless coup. James II went into exile in France, but that did not stop him from trying to regain the crown. Since the French were always looking for ways destabilize the British Government, James received their support. James II invaded England in an effort overthrow the government. Those who supported him were paid with these pieces, called “gunmoney.” The promise was James II would pay them in gold once he regained the crown. He never succeeded, and the tokens were never redeemed. This one was worth half a crown Here is an example of a piece of “gunmoney.” This piece is sharp, but it is corroded. I realized that at the time and bid accordingly. Since this represents a nice story, but not something for which I would pay big bucks, this one is okay. James II would continue to try to regain the crown for the rest of his life. His son, also named James, also continued the quest. James was known in England as "the old pretender" and his son was called "the young pretender." Here is James II gold guinea which was issued during his short reign from 1685 to 1688.
Great write-up. James' (the old pretender) son, Charles, in addition to young pretender was also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. Bonnie Prince Charlie also tried to retake the English throne. He invaded and was initially successful, but then George II’s forces under Prince William defeated him decisively at the Battle of Culloden. That battle ended hopes for the Jacobites regaining the English throne. Charlie survived the battle and died many years later on the Continent. The Battle of Culloden has been portrayed several times in film and video. Most recently in the Outlander series. Cal
A few years ago I was at a coin shop that sells world coins by the pound. They let me look through them and cherrypick and then they'll sell them for $10 a pound instead of the usual $8 for unsearched. I got there and they hardly had anything because I guess someone had just bought everything. But there was a Ziploc bag full of Moroccan falus coins in there from the late 1800s. I couldn't believe my luck so I just grabbed the whole bag without looking through it. After paying about $10 for the whole bag, when I got it home I also found this in the bag. The whole deal was one of my best cherry picks ever.
That gun money half crown is a very nice coin. Is the gold guinea also your coin? It is a very attractive coin! I only have few gun money coins. James II, Ireland, AE crown 'gun money', 1690. Struck on a new flan. 19.3 grams James II, Ireland, AE half crown 'gun money', 1690. This is variety with the "Jnue" error for June on the reverse. Ex Dale Seppa. 10.6 grams James II, Ireland, AE shilling 'gun money', 1689, 10 (December). Ex Dale Seppa. 7.4 grams These coins, or tokens, were issued with the intention of later redemption for silver coins. It never happened.
