Introduction: I don’t usually review books on Irish coinage but this one is an exceptional piece of work by Philip Timmins – one of Ireland’s leading experts on James II’s Gunmoney. There has, for many decades, been a lack of any indepth reference on this extensive series of fiat coinage and this book is, in…
The gunmoney of James II: August 1689 (timeline)
The introduction of the new ‘gunmoney’ sixpence in June was a qualified success for deposed King James II and he quickly moved to cash in even more when he ordered the issue of shillings and halfcrowns for July. The coin presses in Capel Street were in production 24 hours a day, with mint workers employed…
This was never going to be enough and the answer to James’s financial predicament came from a Protestant – William Bromfield, an English Quaker and one time surgeon who invented the world’s first ‘fiat’ currency based upon a promise to pay at a later date
Introduction When James II succeeded his father in 1685, he continued to issue copper halfpennies, albeit via a ‘patent’ like his father did before him. This maintained the flow of small change but the same ‘decades old’ problem persisted with the large proportion of under-weight ‘clipped’ silver in circulation. This might have sufficed for transactions…
Although Armstrong & Legge’s patent to produce copper halfpennies for use in Ireland was confirmed by James II, these coins were actually minted by Sir John Knox, the Lord Mayor of Dublin. On the 17th June 1685, they transferred this patent by deed of appointment to Sir John Knox for the remainder of the time…
Introduction Gun money was an emergency issue of coins made by the forces of James II during the Williamite War fought in Ireland between the years 1689 and 1691. It was not quite the same as the emergency issues of the Great Rebellion of 1641 where besieged cities and towns melted silver plate and issued…
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