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1 Shilling - Elizabeth I Third Coinage
| Issuer | Royal Irish Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1601-1602 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 5.9 g |
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| Obverse description | Central field features the quartered royal arms of England and France, displaying fleurs-de-lis in the first and fourth quarters and passant guardant lions in the second and third quarters, all set within a beaded inner circle. The shield is rendered in the heraldic style typical of Elizabethan hammered coinage. A Latin legend circumscribes the design, reading ELIZABETH.D.G.ANG.FR.ET.HIBER.REGI, proclaiming Elizabeth's sovereignty over England, France, and Ireland. A mint mark appears at the beginning of the legend above the shield. The flan is irregular in shape, as characteristic of hammered production of this period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
The Third Coinage for Ireland was a deliberate debasement, authorized by Elizabeth I as a cost-cutting measure during the Nine Years' War. The Crown needed to pay troops in Ireland without draining English silver reserves, so billon — a copper-heavy alloy with only token silver content — was struck at the Dublin mint to satisfy local military expenditure. Irish merchants and the general population resisted it almost immediately, recognizing the metal for what it was.
The multiple KM references reflect die varieties across the short two-year production window, a consequence of high-volume emergency striking rather than careful mint management.