Threepence (British Coin) - Mid-to-late 17th Century

Mid-to-late 17th Century

The final hammered coinage threepences were produced at the start of the reign of king Charles II. In style they are very reminiscent of his father's issues, the obverse featuring the bust of the king, with the numeral III and the legend, with the reverse showing the royal arms on a shield over a cross, and the legend .

The milled silver threepences of Charles II form two types. There is the undated issue which looks very like the earlier hammered coinage, with a crowned left-facing bust of the king with the denomination indicated by III behind his head, and the inscription, with the reverse showing a shield encircling the arms of England, Scotland, Ireland and France with the legend . This was followed by the dated issue, issued each year from 1670 to 1684, where the obverse features a right-facing uncrowned bust of the king and the inscription, with the reverse showing three crowned interlinked "C"s (indicating the value) and the inscription . All milled silver threepences were 17 millimetres in diameter and weighed 1.5 grams – dimensions which were unchanged until near the end of the reign of George III.

A similar threepence was produced for king James II, dated 1685 to 1688, the obverse showing a left-facing bust of the king and the inscription, with the reverse showing three crowned "I"s (indicating the value) and the inscription .

For the joint reign of William and Mary, threepences were produced in all years from 1689 to 1694. For the first two years a somewhat caricatured portrait of the monarchs was used, replaced by a rather more staid portrait in 1691, with the inscription, while the reverse shows a crowned Arabic number "3" and the inscription . For the sole reign of William III the design remained very similar, with the inscriptions changed to and .