William II

[SiHawks]

Hi - I am relatively new to numismatism and have been collecting a run of monarchs from Aethelred 978 to Charles III.  I have six coins left to get and whilst I understand why most of them are the price they are I am a bit puzzled by William II - he reigned for 14 years yet his coins are some of the most expensive I have come across - can someone please explain why this is the case ? Thank you.

[Mr T]

No idea offhand, but https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces316623.html says that pieces were struck in the name of William, not William II, so it seems a little difficult to correctly attribute them.

[Rob]

There has long been a discussion about whether the William I PAXS pennies were the last issue of William I or the first issue of William II. Pax issues were usually issued at the start of the reign, so this would increase the number of W2 coins dramatically, if true. Unfortunately person(s) who deposited the Beaworth hoard didn't leave an accurate time stamp for the deposition.