1/2 Crown - William III 1st bust, York mint

The York mint reopened in 1696 specifically to address the catastrophic shortage of good silver coinage during the Great Recoinage — a crisis triggered by decades of clipping that had left the country's hammered currency so degraded that much of it circulated by weight rather than face value. William III's Treasury, under the direction of Charles Montagu and with Isaac Newton newly installed at the Mint, coordinated simultaneous milling operations across five provincial mints to meet demand London alone could not handle. York was among the most short-lived of these, closing again in 1698.

The Y mintmark is the primary diagnostic for this issue.