(sold for $255.0)

1625, England, James I. Large Hammered Silver Shilling (12 Pence) Coin. VF+

Mint period: 1603-1625
Denomination: Shilling (12 Pence)
Mint Place: Tower, London (privy mark: lis)
Reference: S. 2668, N. 2124, KM-13 ($600 in VF!). RR!
Condition: A hard rim hit continuing in a scrape in reverse, otherwise VF+
Diameter: 31.2mm
Material: Silver
Weight: 5.8gm

Obverse: Crowned and armored bust of James I right. Value numeral (XII) in left field.
Legend: IACOBVS . D : G . MAG . BRIT . FRA . EET . HIB . REX . (mint mark: lis) .

Reverse: Square topped shield with arms of England, Scotland and Ireland.
Legend: QVAE . DEVC . CONIVNXIT . NEMO . SEPARET . (mint mark: lis) .

During the reign of James, the colonization of North America and the beginning of English dominance in the Americas started its course. In 1607 Jamestown was founded in Virginia and in 1620 Plymouth in Massachusetts Bay Colony. During the next 150 years, England would fight with Spain, the Dutch, and France for control of the continent.

James VI & I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI from 1567 to 1625, and King of England and Ireland as James I from 1603 to 1625.

He became King of Scots as James VI on 24 July 1567, when he was just thirteen months old, succeeding his mother Mary, Queen of Scots. Regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, though he did not gain full control of his government until 1581. On 24 March 1603, as James I, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He then ruled the Kingdom of England, Scotland, and Ireland for 22 years, often using the title King of Great Britain, until his death at the age of 58.

Under James, the "Golden Age" of Elizabethan literature and drama continued, with writers such as William Shakespeare, John Donne, Ben Jonson, and Sir Francis Bacon contributing to a flourishing literary culture. James himself was a talented scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie (1597), True Law of Free Monarchies (1598), and Basilikon Doron (1599). Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed "the wisest fool in Christendom", an epithet associated with his character ever since.

For all his flaws, James had never completely lost the affection of his people, who had enjoyed uninterrupted peace and comparatively low taxation during the Jacobean Era. "As he lived in peace," remarked the Earl of Kellie, "so did he die in peace, and I pray God our king (Charles) may follow him". The earl prayed in vain: once in power, Charles and Buckingham sanctioned a series of reckless military expeditions that ended in humiliating failure. James bequeathed Charles a fatal belief in the divine right of kings, combined with a disdain for Parliament, which culminated in the English Civil War and the execution of Charles. James had often neglected the business of government for leisure pastimes, such as the hunt; and his later dependence on male favourites at a scandal-ridden court undermined the respected image of monarchy so carefully constructed by Elizabeth. The stability of Jamesâ€â"¢s government in Scotland, however, and in the early part of his English reign, as well as his relatively enlightened views on religious issues and war, have earned him a re-evaluation from many recent historians, who have rescued his reputation from a tradition of criticism stemming back to the anti-Stuart historians of the mid-seventeenth century.

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