1693 Shilling – William and Mary

William and Mary ruled jointly as King and Queen. Their actual titles are King William III and Queen Mary II of England.

William III, also widely known as William of Orange, was sovereign Prince of Orange from birth. He was born in Binnenhof, South Holland, Netherlands.

Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. She was born at St James's Palace, London and was the eldest daughter of the Duke of York (the future King James II & VII), and his first wife, Anne Hyde.

Mary co-reigned with her husband, King William III, from 1689 until her death (When William continued as sole ruler).

The regnal years for William and Mary coins were:
1691:TERTIO; 1692:QVARTO; 1693:QVINTO (one extant); 1694:SEXTO.

On coins, their latin names of Gulielmus et Maria are usually used.
The Shilling (written 1/-) is one-twentienth of a pound, worth 12 old pence (5 new pence). It is traditionally a silver coin, but since 1947 it has been made from cupro-nickel. Shillings are known as 'Bobs'.

Shillings are old coins and the English shilling has been around since about 1549, although there were 12 pence coins before that called Testoons from about 1489. The British shillings was the continuation from 1707.

After decimalisation on 15 February 1971, the coin was replaced by the five new pence piece. Originally, the 5p coin was the same size as the shilling but was later made much smaller.The Royal Mint is the designated place for the UK to mint coins. It dates back well over 1000 years and is a Government-owned company. 

Formed in the reign of Alfred the Great about the year 886, during the period 1279-1812 it was generally referred to as The Tower Mint as it was housed at the Tower of London. The Master of The Royal Mint has included famous figures such as Sir Isaac Newton.

Since 2010 it has operated as Royal Mint Ltd, a company owned by HM Treasury, under an exclusive contract to supply all coinage for the UK although it also produces medals and coins for other countries. It is currently located at Llantrisant, Wales.
The United Kingdom (UK) is the Union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is often refered to as Great Britain (GBR). It has a long, rich history.

The orignal coinage was Pounds, Shillings and Pence but since decimalisation on 15 February 1971, it is £1 = 100p, that is One Pound = 100 pence. The coinage of the UK is also a long history, the Royal Mint being established as long ago as 886AD when coins were hammered. Today there is perhaps 30 billion coins in circulation, and many (numismatic) collectors coins and sets are issued frequently in gold, silver and other metals.