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4 Pence - William and Mary incl. Maundy
| Issuer | The Royal Mint |
|---|---|
| Year | 1689-1694 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Conjoined laureate busts of King William III and Queen Mary II facing right, rendered in relief with William placed in front of Mary. The royal effigies are portrayed in classical style with William wearing a laurel wreath, varieties known with or without ribbon ties to the wreath. The encircling Latin legend reads GVLIELMVS ET MARIA D G, proclaiming their joint sovereignty by divine right. |
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| Reverse lettering | MAG·BR·FR·ET·HIB·REX·ET·REGINA·16 89· 4 (Translation: King and Queen of Great Britain France and Ireland) |
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| Additional information |
The Maundy ceremony predates William and Mary by centuries, but their joint reign introduced something genuinely unusual to English coinage: a dual-effigy design showing two monarchs facing one another, a solution to the constitutional awkwardness of Mary II holding sovereign authority in her own right rather than merely as consort. Parliament had been explicit on this point when offering the crown — she was not to be subordinate.
Spink distinguishes 3439 from 3440 on the basis of the obverse legend stops, a distinction that matters primarily to specialists working the series closely.