William II (1694-1702), Ten Shillings, 1696, 4.53g/12h (SCBI 35, 1753-5; B 2; S 5687; KM 141). Good fine £150-£200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Scottish Coins, the Property of a Gentleman.

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Collection

J.K.R. Murray Collection, Spink Auction 57, 29 April 1987, lot 446; DNW Auction 104, 5 December 2012, lot 762

After the death of Queen Mary, a warrant for the production of Forty- and Ten-Shilling pieces with the portrait of the King alone, was issued on 11 July 1695. The following day however a proclamation was approved by the Privy Council ordering the rates of the silver coin to be raised - the ten shilling piece was now to pass for 11 shillings. A request by Sir William Denholme, Master of the Mint in Edinburgh, for the value on the obverse of the new coin to be changed was refused - it seems that the raising of rates was expected to be only temporary. This did in fact turn out to be the case, values returned to their previous levels on 2 June 1696.