Two Guineas: James II (obverse); Four Shields of Arms (reverse) (1687): Art, History and Details

Two Guineas: James II (obverse); Four Shields of Arms (reverse) (1687) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is John Roettier (British, 1631–1703).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The coin type of James II was a continuation of that of the reign of his brother, Charles II. A rare piece, this denomination was only issued in 1687 and 1688. The four gold denominations established under the reformed coinage of the previous reign were five guineas, two guineas, guinea, and half guinea.

Object facts

• Title: Two Guineas: James II (obverse); Four Shields of Arms (reverse)
• Date: 1687
• Creator attribution: John Roettier (British, 1631–1703)
• Culture: England, James II, 1685-1688
• Type: Coins
• Technique: gold
• Dimensions: Diameter: 3.7 cm (1 7/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Numismatics
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1969.200

A detail from the museum

The shields are as follows: England has three lions, Scotland has one lion, France has three fleur-de-lis, and Ireland has a harp.

Collection credit

The Norweb Collection

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Emery May Norweb. English Gold Coins, Ancient to Modern Times, On Loan to the Cleveland Museum of Art from the Norweb Collection. [Catalog. 1968.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.