Scottish Coinage

A study of the Scottish coinage is a study of the history of Scotland in itself, as much of the history of Scotland is reflected in it's coinage. Indeed the triumphs of the rise of Robert the Bruce out of the ashes of the English occupation late in the 13th and early 14th centuries and subsequent victories at Bannockburn, and the recognition of Scottish independence from England are noted with the issuance of coinage bearing the portrait of King Robert I. The tragedies of Scottish history are also reflected, notably the three successive child monarchs whom reigned during the 16th century, most notably however is the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the gradual downfall of her reign that ended with her abdication and thence her flight to refuge in England. Her coinage consist of coins which were issued during her minority, then her marriage to the Dauphin of France, her first widowhood, then her marriage to to Henry Darnley.

The later Middle Ages brought many new denominations and further debasements of silver coinage, until the smallest denominations were made of copper or bronze. During the the reign of James VI, many earlier coinages were called in and reissued, as many contemporary counterfeits found circulation. The accession by James VI to the English throne in 1603 saw the fixing of value of the Scottish coinage to a ratio of 1 / 12 with English coinage. Scottish coinage, which circulated only in Scotland before the reign of Alexander III found some limited circulation in England and the rest of the British isles during this time. Of course English coinage began to see circulation in Scotland, starting a trend, which after the Act of Union in 1707 saw the demise of a uniquely Scottish coinage. The last Scottish minted coins were the sterling issues based on the English denominations that were issued until 1709 with the "E" mintmark for Edinburgh. Some latter British coinages were issued with Scottish emblems, the Arms, or the Thistle etc during the 20th Century, but these are a part of the British coinage, and are not unique to Scotland. Most coin images contained herein are at approximately 300% of original size. Please note that all of the images are high resolution, and thus rather slow to load, this done so the details of the coins can truly be appreciated.