1/2 Crown - William and Mary 2nd busts

William III's nine years' war against Louis XIV created a persistent drain on English silver, and the recoinage crisis of the mid-1690s was already gathering. These half crowns circulated into a monetary environment badly stressed by clipped and debased hammered coin still passing at face value alongside milled issues. The second busts replaced the first after criticism — not unusual for a joint reign in which both effigies had to satisfy dynastic politics as much as artistic standards.

Mary II died of smallpox in December 1694, ending the joint coinage abruptly. Issues from 1691–1693 represent the working years of this type before her death truncated the series.