1 Shilling - Elizabeth I Third Coinage

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.