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Guernsey
King Willim II (1087-1100)
1988 Proof Silver 2 Pounds 38.5mm (28.28 grams) 0.925 Silver (0.841 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 50a
Certification: NGC PF 68 ULTRA CAMEO 2839335-001
ELIZABETH II BAILIWICK OF GUERNSEY RDM, Queen Elizabeth II facing right, Guernsey crest to left.
WILLIAM II 1087 1100 TWO POUNDS, King William II facing 1/4 left.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
 William II (Anglo-Norman: Williame; c. 1056 – 2 August 1100), the third son of William the Conqueror, was King of England from 26 September 1087 until 2 August 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. William is commonly known as William Rufus (Rufus being Latin for “the Red”), perhaps because of his ruddy appearance or, more likely, due to having red hair as a child that grew out in later life.
William was a figure of complex temperament, capable of both bellicosity and flamboyance. He did not marry, nor did he father any offspring, which has led to speculations of possible homosexuality by historians. He died after being hit by an arrow while hunting, under circumstances that remain unclear. Circumstantial evidence in the behaviour of those around him raises strong, but unproven, suspicions of murder. His younger brother Henry I hurriedly succeeded him as king.
Historian Frank Barlow observed William was “[a] rumbustious, devil-may-care soldier, without natural dignity or social graces, with no cultivated tastes and little show of conventional religious piety or morality-indeed, according to his critics, addicted to every kind of vice, particularly lust and especially sodomy.” On the other hand, he was a wise ruler and victorious general. Barlow noted, “His chivalrous virtues and achievements were all too obvious. He had maintained good order and satisfactory justice in England and restored good peace to Normandy. He had extended Anglo-Norman rule in Wales, brought Scotland firmly under his lordship, recovered Maine, and kept up the pressure on the Vexin.”
 Guernsey is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. It lies roughly north of Saint-Malo and to the west of Jersey and the Cotentin Peninsula. With several smaller nearby islands, it forms a jurisdiction within the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a Crown dependency. The jurisdiction is made up of ten parishes on the island of Guernsey, three other inhabited islands (Herm, Jethou and Lihou), and many small islets and rocks. 
The German occupation of the Channel Islands lasted for most of the Second World War, from 30 June 1940 until their liberation on 9 May 1945. The Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey are two British Crown dependencies in the English Channel, near the coast of Normandy. The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by the Wehrmacht (German Armed Forces) during the war.
Anticipating a swift victory over Britain, the occupiers experimented by using a very gentle approach that set the theme for the next five years. The island authorities adopted a similar attitude, giving rise to accusations of collaboration. However, as time progressed the situation grew gradually worse, ending in near starvation for both occupied and occupiers during the winter of 1944-45.
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