6 Pence - William III 3rd bust

William III's sixpences of this period were struck at emergency branch mints — Bristol, Chester, Exeter, Norwich, and York — opened specifically to cope with the Great Recoinage of 1696, one of the most ambitious monetary operations in British history. The old hammered silver coinage had been so thoroughly clipped by the public that an estimated half the circulating silver was simply absent from the coins it was supposed to be in. Parliament authorized the recall and reminting of virtually the entire silver currency in under two years.

The branch mint pieces carry distinguishing mint marks and are scarcer than the London strikes. Chester and Bristol survivors in collectible grades are notably harder to locate than Norwich.