1 Shilling - James II Gun Money Large Coinage

Gun Money takes its name from the raw materials James II ordered melted down to strike emergency coinage after he landed in Ireland in March 1689 — old cannon, church bells, and confiscated brass fittings fed the Dublin and Limerick mints. The coins were issued by month as well as year, an extraordinary measure intended to allow the government to call them in and replace them with silver once the military situation resolved. It never did.

After the Jacobite defeat at the Boyne in July 1690, the coinage was demonetized by the Williamite administration. Most survivors were hoarded or exported rather than redeemed at the derisory rates offered.