Description

James II. 1685-1688. Silver Medal 1688, 77.27 g. Birth of Prince James. Unsigned. Bust, laureate and draped. IACOBUS II D . G . BRITANNIARUM IMPERATOR. Rv. Canopy over a bed in which a person nurses an infant. FELICITAS PUBLICA. In exergue: OB FELICISS : M : BRIT : PRINC : NATIV : 20 IUN : 1688 IG : VITUS EQ : B . C . MARC : D'ALBYVILLE ET SA : ROM : IMP : APUD BAT : ABLEG : EXT : C . C. Plain edge. 60.4 mm. Eimer 290. MI i 630/51. van Loon III, 343. Saunders/Vanhoudt 1688-12. Gutes vorzüglich / About Uncirculated. Herrliche Patina / Most attractively toned. Winzige Kratzer / Tiny scratches.

Purchased from Spink Numismatic Circular, London, July 1997, lot 479.
From the auction Sotheby, London, March 1989, lot 121.

James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 1688 - 1 January 1766) was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1701 until his death in 1766. The only son of James II of England and his second wife, Mary of Modena, he was Prince of Wales and heir until his Catholic father was deposed and exiled in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. His Protestant half-sister Mary II and her husband William III became co-monarchs. As a Catholic, he was subsequently excluded from the succession by the Act of Settlement 1701.

His birth was unexpected, coming five years after his mother's tenth and last pregnancy, none of which produced a child that survived more than a few days. The birth reignited controversies of religion, as the new son would be raised Catholic.

The medal was struck in Holland.