Commonly known as William of Orange or ‘King Billy’, William III ruled England jointly with his wife Mary from 1689 until her death in 1694, carrying on alone until his own passing in 1702. Groomed to lead the powerful Dutch Orange Order, fear of a Catholic succession in Protestant England would see him add this foreign throne to his natural birth right.

William’s invasion force landed in Devon in 1688. The English monarch James II, who chose not to fight, was captured and then exiled in France. Early the following year William and Mary were offered the English throne in the ‘Glorious Revolution’ but James was not prepared to sit idly by. Landing in Ireland in 1689 with French troops supplied by William’s sworn enemy, Louis XIV of France, James II intended to use the country as a base for invasion, only to be defeated by William at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

William III (1694-1702), gold Guinea, 1700

Obverse - Second laureate head right, legend and toothed border surrounding

Reverse - Crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles, Lion of Nassau at centre, date either side of top crown, legend and toothed border surrounding,  

Weight 8.34g  

Good Very Fine condition

The Latin legends translate to on obverse "William the Third by the Grace of God" continuing on the reverse as "King of Great Britain, France and Ireland." We note £120,212 worth of gold for calendar year 1700 which is the lowest for gold production in the seven years of dates in this reign, though of course we do not know how the output would be broken down between the gold denominations nor how long a date on a coin die would have lasted into a following calendar year.