CORONATION OF WILLIAM AND MARY AT AMSTERDAM

By unknown medallist: England/Netherlands, 1689, silver (cast), 61 mm
Obv: William and Mary, each holding a scepter and orb, seated, facing, crowned and robed GVILHELMVS ET MARIA. REX. ET. REGINA CORON APR 11/21 1689
Rev: Three standing figures in elaborate armor, representing the Captain, Lieutenant and Ensign of the City Guard of Amsterdam. Above is the armorial shield of the city. TER. GEDAGTNIS. DAT. OP. DE. DAGH. DER. KRONING. DE WAGHT. HAD. D. COMP. VAN. D. H. B. MVIKENS.  (In Remembrance That on the Day of the Coronation the Guard Was Kept by the Company of Mr. Bernard Muikens.)
Unsigned
Ref: Eimer 309A; MI i, 678/54 (Very Rare); v. Loon III, 390;  Weiss BW811

Following the birth of a son to James II and Mary of Modena, both of whom were Catholic in mainly Protestant England, the populace feared that a Catholic dynasty would be established. They therefore encouraged the overthrow of James and invited the Protestant William of Orange and his wife Mary, the daughter of James II and his first wife, the Protestant Anne Hyde, to depose James and assume the monarchy. In 1689 they took the crown and ruled jointly as William III and Mary II. This change in power became known as the Glorious Revolution.

During the coronation festivities, Amsterdam was protected by the Company of the City guard under the command of Captain Bernard Muikens, who is named in the inscription on the reverse. More than 30 medals were issued to celebrate this coronation, most of them from Holland (Eimer).

The medal consists of two cast plates joined at their edge by a broad collar.

See also: Weiss, B.: Medals of the Glorious Revolution: The Influence of Catholic-Protestant Antagonism, ANS Magazine, Vol. 13, Issue 1, pp. 6-23. American Numismatic Society, New York, 2014.