Scottish Coins & Tokens

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Scottish Jacobite & Earlier Medals

WSC-6929: James Francis Edward Stuart / James III of Scotland Silver Touch Piece. See the excellent “The Sovereign Remedy” by Noel Woolf (ISBN 0 901603 01 5) for everything you need to know about touchpieces and the Kings & Queens that personally handed them out. The would-be James III of England or James VIII of Scotland was in exile in Italy immediately following his second unsuccessful invasion of Scotland in 1715. It was while in exile in the Palazzo del Re, Rome (courtesy of the pope) that he had these silver touch pieces made for both his English and Scottish supporters. This example is very much an Italian commission due to the IAC.III obverse legend, as opposed to the French commissioned English IAC 3 and Scottish IAC 8 reverse legends. James gave them out in very tiny quantities during special Touching Ceremonies where, because he was in direct contact with God, he had the power to cure Scofula (TB). Or so he believed. This one is from a collection dating back to the 1880's – see tickets. This image here, from an auction just last year, illustrates just how rare these Scottish pieces are (and how bad the auction house was at estimating value!) - they were produced in such tiny quantities and very few survived. Guaranteed to have been personally touched by James when he gave this out to a Scrofula sufferer at one of the ceremonies. This is a piece of Scottish and English (but mainly Scottish!!) history. £1,475

Hammered Gold Coinage

WAu-7017: 1601 Scottish James 1st Hammered GOLD Sword and Sceptre Piece. Circulated at 120 shillings. Eighth coinage – the first date in this very short serious that predated the King’s accession to the English throne. Spink 5460. Old crease mark. The population (and economy) of Scotland was a fraction of that of England, thus we can say with confidence that all Scottish coins, especially gold, were struck in much smaller quantities than English coins. Also, you tend to see Scottish coins, hammered and milled, in a far greater circulated (worn) state than equivalent English coins. Bizarrely, this coin is actually listed here cheaper than an equivalently sized English gold Angel, and yet this coin is 120 shillings compared to the Angel’s 12 shillings! £2,225 RESERVED (S.M.19-2-21)

Hammered Silver Coinage

David 1^st

WSC-6993: David 1^st Early Scottish Medieval Hammered Silver Penny. Period / Phase D (Burns’ class II), dies being of “local” and “lesser workmanship”. 21.6 grains. Crowned bust right with lis-tipped sceptre to right, Cross Moline, pellets in quarters. Spink 5009, Burns’ 16, SCBI (Ashmolean & Huntarian) 35. The legends on this issue are invariably blundered (meaningless symbols) or if not, retrograde. Here you have “AVIT” of AVIT IAIT as clear as you could hope for, which is most unusual and exceedingly welcome! The mint is thought to be Roxburgh although the academics are not certain. Better than the Spink plate coin. Ex Lessen collection. Sold with an old ticket and annotated coin display as well as a detailed information slip. Rare. £2,250

William 1^st

Crescent & Pellet coinage, circa 1174-95

WSC-6656: William 1^st “The Lion” Medieval Hammered Silver Cut Halfpenny. The rarer, earlier Crescent & Pellet issue of 1174-95. Cross Pommee sceptre head - Spink 5025. Sold with an old Fred Rist (?) ticket. A rare coin. £85

Short Cross & Stars “PHASE A” coinage, circa 1195-1205

WSC-6913: William (The Lion) 1st Scottish Hammered Silver Voided Short Cross Penny. Phase A Penny, “Short Cross & Stars” coinage, 1195-1205, RAVL at Roxburgh: +RAVL.ON.(RO)CE. Spink 5027. A good, strong portrait together with clear legends – a very nice example of this rarer, earlier issue. £475

Short Cross & Stars “PHASE B” coinage, circa 1205-1230

WSC-6099: William 1^st “The Lion” Medieval Scottish Penny. Phase B type: 1205 – 1230. Voided short cross. The much rarer +hENRY LE RVS reverse reading (Spink 5031) which is from the Roxburgh mint. Crude (stylised), very good grade and rare. £425

Alexander III

1^st Issue Pennies

WSC-6377: Alexander III Rarer 1^st Issue “DVN” Mint Penny. Long cross & stars, 1250-80. WALTER.ON.DVN – one of the mysteries of Scottish coinage is that we still do not know the mint town represented by the signature DVN. Dunbar, Dunfermline, Dundee, even Dumbarton have all been muted as the possible location. Type III, Spink 5043. The new Spink book (2015 so not that new anymore) has this coin at £450. This one for sale at £425

WSC-5982: Alexander III Rarer 1^st Issue BERWICK Mint Penny. Long cross & stars, 1250-80. RO BER TON BE – Robert of Berwick. Outstanding portrait piece. Type III, SCBI 35, 93/A, Spink 5043. £385

WSC-6793: Alexander III Rarer 1^st Issue STIRLING Mint Penny. Long cross & stars, 1250-80. hO(N) RI. ON^S TR – Henri of Stirling. Type III, SCBI 35, 137/A, Spink 5043. Old collection piece. A rare Scottish mint. £395

WSC-6794: Alexander III Rarer 1^st Issue FORFAR Mint Penny. Long cross & stars, 1250-80. SIM ON^D O(N F) O^R – Simond of Forfar. Type III, SCBI 35, 115/A, Spink 5043 (£225 / £675 in a very outdated edition). Old collection piece. A rare Scottish mint. £595

WSC-6935: Alexander III Rarer 1^st Issue FORFAR Mint Penny. Long cross & stars, 1250-80. WILAM ON FOR - Rare Forfar mint. Type III, Spink 5043 (£225 / £675 in a very outdated edition). A rare Scottish mint at an affordable price. £395

WSC-6795: Alexander III Rarer 1^st Issue INVERNESS Mint Penny. Long cross & stars, 1250-80. IEFR (A) IO^N I^N(V) – Gefrai of Inverness. Type III, SCBI 35, 123/A, Spink 5043. Old collection piece. A good quality repair on what is an intriguing coin – there appears to be only a single letter in the second quadrant on the reverse. A rare Scottish mint. Cheap. £345

WSC-6830: Alexander III Rarer 1^st Issue St Andrew’s Mint Cut Halfpenny. Long cross & stars, 1250-80. TO(MAS.ON.)AN – Tomas of St Andrew’s. Type IV, Spink 5044. One of the rarest of the Scottish mints. The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has only a single example (a poor coin) whilst the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow holds no examples. The National Museum (Edinburgh) holds two. There were only two dies in use - one with AN the other as ANDER as the mint signatures. This is a very rare coin. £249

WSC-6889: Alexander III Scottish Medieval Hammered Silver Cut Halfpenny. First coinage, 1250-80. The rare Inverness mint - GEF(RAI ON INVERO)N. Type III, Spink 5043. A single type / single moneyer issue from this rare Scottish mint – only Montrose and Wilanerter are rarer. The coin is a cut half (current thinking is that cut half coins were officially cut at the mint and not by traders) and benefits from most of the king’s bust being there. £135

2^nd Coinage Pennies

WSC-6856: Alexander III Scottish Hammered Silver Penny. Second coinage, 1280-86. Edinburgh mint town. Class E, Spink 5056. Not a great eye appeal coin (worn and centrally pierced) but a rare 20 point reverse. £55

WSC-6769: Alexander III Scottish Hammered Silver Penny. Second coinage, 1280-86. Perth mint town. Class E, Spink 5056. £145

WSC-6881: Alexander III Scottish Hammered Silver Penny. Second coinage, 1280-86. Perth mint town. Rarer class D, Spink 5057. From an old collection – see original ticket here. £135

WSC-6882: Alexander III Scottish Hammered Silver Penny. Second coinage, 1280-86. Roxburgh mint town. Spink 5054. From an old collection – see original ticket here. £98

2^nd Coinage Half Pennies

John Baliol

Pennies

WSC-5369: John Baliol Scottish Hammered Silver Penny. The first issue, “rough” coinage of 1292 – 1296. John Baliol was “chosen” out of thirteen competitors for the Scottish throne upon the death of Alexander III. The English king, Edward I, was the arbitrator. John Baliol’s four year reign ended in 1296 with his abdication when Berwick, Edinburgh, Perth, Roxburgh and Stirling all fell to the English. £385

WSC-5583: John Baliol Scottish Hammered Silver Penny. Second issue, “smooth” coinage of 1292 – 1296. CIVITAS SANDREE – the much rarer St Andrew’s mint. John Baliol was “chosen” out of thirteen competitors for the Scottish throne upon the death of Alexander III. The English king, Edward I, was the arbitrator. John Baliol’s four year reign ended in 1296 with his abdication when Berwick, Edinburgh, Perth, Roxburgh and Stirling all fell to the English. £545

Robert “The Bruce” 1st

WSC-6945: Robert “The Bruce” 1^st Scottish Medieval Hammered Silver Penny. Spink 5076. Robert, a descendant of David 1^st, was crowned in Scone in 1306 and so he reigned over a Scotland that had no Edinburgh until 1313. Bannockburn followed soon after, leading to the gradual repossession of the kingdom, including Berwick. It is interesting to note that David II followed Robert Bruce (David married the sister of Edward III in an obvious attempt to cease hostilities) in 1329 and Alexander III’s second coinage ended 1286. Both those issues were good quality with many excellent examples being extant today. In between we had Margaret with no coinage and the stop-gap John Baliol followed by Robert Bruce. Virtually all the coins in that period were poor, which is all the stranger when you bear in mind Alexander III’s second coinage through to David II, including John Baliol and Robert Bruce, used virtually identical dies. Happily, this coin of Robert Bruce is much above average. £1,850 RESERVED (E.M.10-9-20)

David II

WSC-6460: David II Medieval Scottish Hammered Silver Penny. Second coinage, 1351-57. VILLA ABERDON – the very rare Aberdeen provincial mint. Spink 5121 where the 2020 price guide lists this coin at £1,100. I am unaware of any Aberdeen pennies coming up for sale in recent or even non recent times. A great rarity – an Aberdeen Groat in this series (Spink 5103) achieved a final price of $4288 – well over £3,000 – in the January 2021 CNG sale. £795

WSC-6753: David II Medieval Scottish Hammered Silver Groat. Second coinage, 1351-57. VILLA EDINBVRGH – Edinburgh mint. A type B coin, slightly double struck on the reverse, 3.54g. Spink 5097. Very nice grade for issue. Excellent provenance: ex Dr William Triest collection, ex David Stuart collection – sold with their original tickets. Also comes with an old auction listing. £325

WSC-6773: David II Medieval Scottish Hammered Silver Groat. Third (Light) coinage, 1367-71 VILLA EDINBVRGH – Edinburgh mint. Spink 5125 – star on the base of the sceptre coupled with trefoils within the tressure. £275

Robert II

WSC-6758: Robert II Scottish Hammered Silver Groat. 1371-90, Edinburgh mint, second issue, 1357-67. Interesting fact: Robert II’s grandfather was Robert the Bruce. Spink 5131. £225

WSC-6834: Robert II Scottish Hammered Silver Groat. 1371-90, Perth mint. Spink 5136. VILLA DE PERTh. Star at the base of the sceptre. Interesting fact: Robert II’s grandfather was Robert the Bruce. An appealing coin from a rarer mint town. £275

WSC-5623: Robert II Scottish Hammered Silver HALF Groat. 1371-90, Perth mint. Spink 5143. Interesting fact: Robert II’s grandfather was Robert the Bruce. Uncommon. £275

WSC-6093: Robert II Scottish Hammered Silver Penny. 1371-90, Perth mint. Interesting fact: Robert II’s grandfather was Robert the Bruce. Spink 5146 – rarer variety. £159

WSC-6776: Robert II Scottish Hammered Silver Penny. 1371-90, Edinburgh mint, second issue, 1357-67. Interesting fact: Robert II’s grandfather was Robert the Bruce. Spink 5131. £275

Robert III

WSC-6801: Robert III Scottish Hammered Silver Groat. Heavy coinage issue of 1390 – 1403. First issue with tall, rough facing bust and three pellets at the cusps. Spink 5165. Edinburgh mint. £275

James III

James IV

WSC-6930: James IV Hammered Billon Silver Plack. One of the rarer monarchs for this denomination. Sold with old tickets. Spink 5349. £155

WSC-6949: Scottish James IV Hammered Silver Twelve Penny Groat. A high grade example of this scarce Light Coinage issue of 1496 - 1413. QR (quartus) at the end of the obverse legend and two stars by the neck. Edinburgh mint. Old ticket here. Spink 5341. Full flan, no double striking, high grade and choice. £1,850

James V

WSC-6486: James V Hammered Billon Silver Plack. First coinage, 1513-36. Sold with an old ticket. Spink 5381. £165

WSC-6799: James V Scottish Stuart Hammered Billon Silver Bawbee. Third coinage, 1538 – 1542. Annulet over the obverse 1 so Spink 5384. 1.89 grams, 23mm. Rarer monarch. £235

Mary

WSC-7011: Mary Queen of Scots Hammered 11/12 Alloy Silver Plack or Fourpence. First period before marriage, 1542-58 but dated 1557. Crowned shield dividing MR. Spink 5437. Uncommon. £95 RESERVED (G.P.27-1-21)

WSC-7024: Scottish Mary Hammered Billon Silver Bawbee or Sixpence. First period, pre marriage, 1542-8. An issue of ¾ alloy struck at Edinburgh. Spink 5433 – rarer voided saltire cross variety. Sold with an old auction slip and a collector’s cabinet card. £195

James VI

WSC-6885: 1575 Scottish James VI Hammered Silver Half Merk or Noble. Second coinage, rare date. Better grade with an extremely clear date. Spink 5478. £349

WSC-6809: 1599 James VI Hammered Silver Scottish Ten Shillings. Seventh issue, Spink 5493. Nice grade and a desirable date. £385

WSC-6109: Scottish James VI Hammered Silver 30 Shillings. Initial mark Thistle. The rarer Type II variety - Spink 5504. £245

Charles 1^st

Silver

WSC-6946: Scottish Charles 1^st UNRECORDED Hammered Silver 40 Pence. Third coinage, Briot-Falconer transitional issue of 1637-42 with an F (for Falconer) modified from a B (for Briot) below the reverse thistle. At first glance this appears to be a standard B below the reverse thistle, so Spink 5576. However, it’s clearly an F, modified from the earlier B – note the slightly bulbous top vertical and the very start of the bottom bulbous part of the B protruding slightly from the centre, these being the only aspects of the underlying B. Everything else about this letter is an F. See the following image, although please note that all letters have been rotated to the upright for ease of use. There actually is no Falconer 40 pence recorded with an F below, only the B below. However, Briot’s Spink 5576 with a B below is a B lying on its back, facing upwards, whilst this letter is 180 degrees rotated and facing downwards. It’s an F for Falconer and as such, unrecorded. Falconer naturally followed on from Briot during the Third Coinage of Charles 1^st Scottish coins so this coin would appear to be a very rare transition from Briot to Falconer. You’d think that one engraver would be highly unlikely to basically take his predecessor’s dies, churn out coinage and then call them his own by way of putting his mark on them and doing nothing else. However, Nicholas Briot was appointed master of the Scottish mint in 1634 and later joined by his son-in-law, John Falconer, who eventually succeeded him in 1646. By keeping things in the family and having an organic “passing on of the baton”, it becomes much more plausible that Falconer did the above. An interesting coin; potentially the “missing link” between Briot and Falconer. Perhaps it will be termed Third Coinage, type IIA as it certainly comes before Falconer’s first recorded type III. £395

WSC-5367: Scotland Charles 1^st Hammered Silver 20d. Third coinage, 1637 – 42. Briot’s machine made issue. £95

WSC-6687: Scottish Charles 1^st Hammered Silver 2 Shillings. Fourth coinage of 1642. Spink 5593. Rare. £155

WSC-6623: Scottish Charles 1^st Hammered Silver 3 Shillings. Fourth coinage of 1642. Spink 5592. Rare. £225

WSC-6015: Scottish Charles 1^st Hammered Silver 12 Shillings. Third coinage, 1637 – 1642. Falconer’s second issue, type IV. Spink 5563. The coin is sold with a very old ticket, possibly WW2 period, stating that this coin was purchased for twenty five shillings. £325

WSC-6989: Charles 1^st Hammered Silver Scottish Twenty Pence. The rarer second coinage (Briot’s hammered issue) of 1636 only, not to be confused with the later third coinage. Spink 5550. Sold with an old dealer’s ticket together with an information slip and an annotated coin envelope. £145

Copper

WSC-6565: Scottish Charles 1^st High Grade Copper Turner. Earl of Stirling coinage, 1632-39. Spink 5601. The rarer type 4a with im Saltire both sides. Probably a contemporary counterfeit although Spink suggest these are mainly im Lis and Lion. Choice. £98

WSC-6874: Scottish Charles 1^st Copper Turner. Earl of Stirling coinage, 1632-39. Spink 5598. Part of a single deceased collection put together from the 1960's onwards with this ticket looking to be dated 1989. Type 1c with im flower over lozenge. £48

WSC-6877: Scottish Charles 1^st Copper Turner. Earl of Stirling coinage, 1632-39. Spink 5599e. Part of a single deceased collection put together from the 1960's onwards with this ticket where this coin cost ten shillings way back when. Type 2e with im stop & saltire. A nice grade coin. £55

Milled Coinage

Charles II

Silver

WSC-6688: 1670 Charles II Scottish Silver Merk. First coinage. Interesting for two reasons: 1. There is a colon after the date and 2. The die axis is 85 degrees which is noted in Spink (p96) as considerably rarer than the standard 180 or en medaille die axis types. £185

WSC-6455: 1671 Charles II Scottish Silver Merk. First coinage. Interesting for two reasons: 1. The grade is much better than usually seen and 2. The die axis is 85 degrees which is noted in Spink (p96) as considerably rarer than the standard 180 or en medaille die axis types. £225

WSC-6697: 1672 Charles II Scottish Silver HALF Merk. First coinage. Spink 5614. Above average for issue. £125

WSC-6096: 1677 Charles II Scottish Silver 1/16^th Dollar. Second coinage and interestingly, the only denomination in the series to have a reverse Saltire Cross. High grade for issue. Spink 5624. £325

WSC-5838: 1682 over 1680 Scottish Charles II Silver ¼ Dollar. Second coinage, good grade for issue. £235

Copper

WSC-6657: 1677 Scottish Charles II Turner / Bodle. The first date in only a three year issue. Better grade for issue, being actually better than the Spink plate coin, and benefiting from being the rarer LAESSET error issue. Spink 5632 (£200 in the 2015 guide). A desirable coin. £125

WSC-6666: 1677 Scottish Charles II Turner / Bodle. The first date in only a three year issue. Better grade for issue, being actually better than the Spink plate coin. Spink 5630 (£135 in the 2015 guide). £55

WSC-6650: 1677 Scottish Charles II Copper Bawbee or Sixpence. First date in only a three year issue. Spink 5628. Better grade for issue, being about as good as the Spink plate coin. £75

WSC-6651: 1678 Scottish Charles II Copper Bawbee or Sixpence. Second date in only a three year issue. Spink 5628. Better grade for issue, being nearly as good as the Spink plate coin. £65

WSC-6652: 1679 Scottish Charles II Copper Bawbee or Sixpence. Third and rarest date in only a three year issue. Spink 5628. Better grade for issue, being nearly as good as the Spink plate coin. £65

William II

WSC-6698: 1695 Scottish William II Copper BAWBEE. Spink 5690 where it’s given very high values in the 2015 price guide. £129

WSC-6717: 1695 Scottish William II Silver 40 Shillings. A large Scottish silver coin in remarkably good grade for the issue. Spink 5679. Ex Spink, ex Coincraft (their ticket here). Rare in this grade. £445

WSC-6626: 1697 Scottish William II Silver 40 Shillings. A large Scottish silver coin in remarkably good grade for the issue. Spink 5682 (Spink 2015: £675, £2,250). Rare in this grade. £645 RESERVED

WSC-6921: 1697 William II of Scotland Silver Five Shillings. A rare example of a Scottish five shillings – the vast majority of the few you see will invariably be Queen Anne. A high grade example, being the best I've ever seen and by some margin. Spink 5688. You are not seeing much wear on this coin, rather poor dies / inadequate pressure at the minting stage on the large definition areas, ie the king's bust. Please ignore the aberration of a main image in terms of colouring (I may well need a new camera soon!) and use this image to see the even colouring throughout. £650 in EF in the now very much out date Spink 2015 price guide (there is a new revised edition coming out later this year with I’m sure more realistic, up to date pricing) – there are certainly EF areas to this coin. A very rare coin in this grade. £395

James Francis Edward Stuart – The Old Pretender

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1700’s Church “Communion Tokens” (20% max off all marked prices when you buy 2 or more Communion Tokens!!)

WSC-5472: 1748 Scottish Communion Church Token. A very early date indeed. Dull, Perthshire. Burzinski 3585 (image annotation for B number is incorrect). Rare. £25

WSC-4728: 1755 Scottish Communion Church Token. A very early date indeed. Cadder, Lanarkshire. Minister Alexander Dun. Burzinski 1190. Rare. £25

WSC-5473: 1793 Scottish Communion Church Token. An early date. Dull, Perthshire. Burzinski 5029 (image annotation for B number is incorrect). £25

WSC-4730: 1796 Scottish Communion Church token. An early date. Rare. £25

WSC-5700: 1700’s Scottish Communion Church Token. Mortlack, Banffshire. Burzinski 4515. £25

WSC-5701: 1700’s Scottish Communion Church Token. Millbrex, Aberdeenshire. Burzinski 4512. £25

WSC-5702: 1790 Scottish Communion Church Token. Craigend, Perthshire. Minister Robert Forsyth. Burzinski 1262. £25

H174: 1700's Scottish Communion Token "LK" - Apparently Unrecorded in Burzinski. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H173: 1700's Scottish Communion Token - Berwickshire - Burzinski 6841. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H108: 1772 Scottish Communion Token - Larbert, Stirlingshire - Burzinski 2021. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H031: 1791 Scottish Communion Token - Leith, Lothians, Burzinski 4197. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H007: 1775 Scottish Communion Token - Lochgoilphead, Argyll, Burzinski 4167. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

WSC-5943: 1700’s Scottish Communion Church Token. Lairg, Sutherland. Burzinski 4067. £25

WSC-5944: 1799 Scottish Communion Church Token. Liff & Benvie, Angus. Burzinski 4269. £25

1800’s Church “Communion Tokens” (20% max off all marked prices when you buy 2 or more Communion Tokens!!)

WSC-5698: 1871 Scottish Communion Church Token. Leven, Fife. Minister John S. Hyslop. Burzinski 4248. £25

H180: 1800's Scottish Communion Token - St Ninians, North Leith, Burzinski 5280. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H169: 1840 Scottish Communion Token - Glasgow, Lanarkshire - Burzinski 4818 VAR. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H168: 1843 Scottish Communion Token - Monzie, Perthshire - Burzinski 4974. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H167: 1835 Scottish Communion Token - Leitholm, Berwickshire - Burzinski 4206. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H112: 1850 Scottish Communion Token - Musselburgh, Lothians - Burzinski 5108. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H111: 1838 Scottish Communion Token - Dalkeith, Lothians - Burzinski 1858. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H078: 1801 Scottish Communion Token - Mains & Strathmartine - Burzinski 4594. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H073: 1802 Scottish Communion Token - Madderty, Perthshire - Burzinski 4581. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25

H034: 1827 Scottish Communion Token - Kinnell, Angus, Burzinski 3832. See image for details. Old collection piece. £25