Great Britain. 5 Guineas, 1686. S.3396; Fr-292; KM-460.1. James II, 1685-1688. Laureate bust of King facing left. Reverse ; Crowned cruciform shields, sceptres in angles. Edge reads in raised lettering: DECVS. ET. TVTAMEN. ANNO. REGNI. SECVNDO. Pop 1; Finest example graded by both services. NGC graded MS-61. Estimated Value $75,000 - UP
James was the third son of Charles I, the brother of Charles II, and as the Duke of York he was successor to the throne of England. All James II coins are rare and as this was a very short (four years) series the reign is numismatically popular. King James II was a complex but rather unexciting character who lived much of his life in the shadow of his more charismatic brother, King Charles II.
James converted to Catholicism in the 1660's, but his brother Charles II, fearful of upsetting public opinion, insisted that he should still take the Anglican communion and that his surviving (legitimate) children (the future monarchs Mary II and Anne) should continue to be instructed as Protestants.
Things were fine until James's wife Anne died in 1671 and in 1673 married the 15 year old Mary of Modena. In 1685 Charles II died and James became King. In 1688 his new Roman Catholic wife, Mary, bore him a Catholic son, and James asked the Pope to stand as godfather! This was step a too far for an English public which was heavily Protestant. At this stage, a group of English magnates - six moneyed lords and a bishop - asked William of Orange, James's son-in-law, to deliver the nation from 'a perpetuation of evil' William landed in Torbay and James, with his army, advanced to meet him. When James's generals deserted him he fled to Ireland, where he was defeated by William at the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, and he spent his last years in France. In the meantime, William and Mary assumed the throne as joint monarchs.