Great Britain Ireland Gun Money Sixpence, Shilling, and Half Crown 1689 and 1690

So here's the plan, said James (IACOBVS) II, King of England, after leaving the throne and picking up popular support in Ireland during the course of a civil war: 'I don't have any money, so I'll melt cannons and church bells to make sixpence, shillings, and half crowns and, when I win the war, you can trade them in on real silver pieces.' Trouble is, he lost the war and picked up the nickname James the be-shitten. lol

Sometimes these coins appear in silver and even gold, but most of the time they are made of non-precious metal. If you find a precious metal example, you have a very rare coin. Coin catalogs do not list values for silver and gold specimens because there are so few of them. They are very valuable.

The reverse shows the denomination:

VI - sixpence
XII - shilling (12 pence)
XXX - half crown (30 pence)

The coin in our picture is a half crown sold by Künker GmbH & Co. in Osnabrück, Germany for 220 euros (about $300 US dollars) during a 2013 auction. This gives a good idea of the value of these coins when they are in excellent condition.

Here are some stats from the coin catalogs.

SIXPENCE
worn: $20 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $65
well preserved: $100
sixpence dated 1689 with '7ber' on the reverse are worth about twice these values

SHILLING
worn: $20 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $65
well preserved: $100

HALF CROWN
worn: $20 US dollars approximate catalog value
average circulated: $90
well preserved: $150
half crowns dated 1689 with '8r' of '8BER' on the reverse are worth about three times these values
half crowns dated 1690 with '10r', 'jnue' (misspelled 'june'), or 'Aug' on the reverse are worth about twice these values
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