Description

William III. and Mary II. 1689-1694. Silver Medal 1689, 9.39 g. Coronation of William III and Mary II. Unsigned. A shield adorned with the Rotterdam coat of arms, suspended from a palm tree and flanked by two facing heraldic lions; beneath, a ribbon reads ROTERODAMUM; in the background, the cityscape and port of Rotterdam. Rv. The festivities in a square, overseen by Erasmus's statue and an arch bearing PRINCIPI PATRIÆ QVE S C and the likeness of William III. In exergue: 1689. Plain edge. 30.2 mm. Eimer -. MI i 678/55. van Loon III, 390. Saunders/Vanhoudt 1689-28. Sehr schön / Very Fine.

Purchased from S & B, Great Missenden, January 1996, lot M5.

William III and Mary II were crowned together at Westminster Abbey on 11 April 1689 by the Bishop of London, Henry Compton. Normally, the coronation is performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, but the Archbishop at the time, William Sancroft, refused to recognise James's removal.

The joint rule of William III of Orange (1650 - 1702), the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic and the grandson of Charles I of England, and Mary II (1662 - 1694), the daughter of James II of England and his first wife, Anne Hyde, established constitutional monarchy and laid the foundation for modern parliamentary democracy.

The expense of these medals was defrayed from the accumulation of fines for non-attendance and other delinquencies.