Description

William III. 1694-1702. Silver Medal 1696, 28.95 g. Assassination Plot against William III. Unsigned, probably by C. Wermuth. Busts of Louis XIV and James II conjoined. HERODES ATQVE PILATVS. In exergue: ACTOR . IV . 26. Rv. Within an enclosure, Louis XIV and James II jointly display a purse, inscribed CM PISTO. On the right Father Petre; in a wood beyond forty armed conspirators, a fleet on the horizon. IRRITA CONSPIRATIO. In exergue: GENESIS . XLIX . 5.6. ADVERS' . GVILIELMVM . III ANGLIAE REGEM . 3 . MART . 1696. Plain edge. 43.2 mm. Eimer 369. MI ii 151/414. Wohlfahrt 96 021. van Loon IV, 225,3. Saunders/Vanhoudt 1696-10. Selten / Rare. Fast FDC / About Mint State. Prachtexemplar / Cabinet piece.

Purchased from Münzen- & Medaillenhandlung, Stuttgart, May 2001, lot 1485.

After the Glorious Revolution, James II was received by his cousin and ally, Louis XIV, who offered him a palace and a pension. He tried to regain the throne in 1689, but after its failure in 1691 he returned to France once again. In 1696, there was an attempt led by George Barclay to assassinate William III and to restore the rule of James to the throne, but the plot failed and the backlash made his cause even less popular.