Ireland 1696 1/2 penny

Stack's Bowers 2025 ANA sale, lot 40602

This specimen was lot 40602 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Oklahoma City, OK, August 2025), where it sold for $1,200. The catalog description^[1] noted, "IRELAND. 1/2 Penny, 1696. William III. NGC EF-45. Variety with GRATIA legend. A type quite infrequently brought to market, and essentially always bearing significant as-struck flatness to the portrait-the present example no exception, though the surfaces are well-preserved and the fields attractively glossy. From the Richard August Collection." After James II was deposed as king of Great Britain in the Glorious Revolution of 1688, he fled to France. He landed in Ireland in early 1689 to raise the flag of revolt on behalf of the Catholic population. James was defeated and forced to return to France while the Irish suffered devastation and land confiscations. William III allowed the gun money coinage to continue to circulate as pennies, half pennies and farthings. This type was struck 1696 only after the rebellion was crushed.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: copper, 6.2 g, 25 mm diameter.

Catalog reference: KM 110, S-6599.

Source:

• Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
• Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of the Coins of Scotland, Ireland, Channel Islands & Isle of Man, London: Coincraft, 1999.
• Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Man & Lundy), Pre-Decimal Issues, 2nd edition, London: Spink & Son, 2003.
• ^[1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, August 2025 Global Showcase Auction, World & Ancient Coins, featuring The Richard August Collection and the Richard Margolis Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2025.

Link to:

• 1694 half penny
• 1736 half penny
• Coins and currency dated 1696