I am very pleased to have been given permission to publish this very good 12 part history of British Coinage, written by Ken Elks. It contains a wealth of information on all era's of British coinage from the first Celtic coins until decimalisation.

Part 1, Celtic Coinage. Part 2, Roman Coinage. Part 3, Anglo Saxon Coinage. Part 4, Norman and early English coins. Part 5, Tudor coins. Part 6, Stuarts and the Commonwealth.

Part 7, Early Milled coins. Part 8, Milled Coins 1662 - 1816. Part 9, Provincial token coinage. Part 10, The Great Re-Coinage. Part 11, Decimal Coins. Part 12, Scottish Coins.

Coinage of Great Britain. Celtic to Decimalisation, by Ken Elks.
Part 12, Scottish Coins.

Following the depredations of the Roman emperor, Septimius Severus in A.D. 210, Scotland was largely depopulated. During the next 100 years or so there was either a resurgence of the original population or the appearance of a new people, the Picts, first mentioned by the Romans in the mid-4th Century A.D. By the fifth Century A.D. there was migration into Scotland of Gaelic speaking tribes from Ireland, who mostly occupied the Western areas. Viking attacks in the 9th Century persuaded both the Picts and the Gaels to settle their differences, joining together as the Kingdom of Alban. However, it was not until the 11th Century that Scotland was united under the rule of Duncan I (1034-1040). This unification lasted just over 50 years. After the death of Duncan's son Malcolm III (1057-1093), Scotland broke up into several petty kingdoms until reunified in the reign of David I (1124-1153). It was during the reign of David that the first Scottish coins were minted. Because of the Civil War between Stephen and Matilda, David was able to secure for his throne large areas of northern England in a treaty of 1139, which became the chief source of contention between the two countries for the next 400 years or more.

When Alexander III of Scotland died in 1286 his daughter, Margaret, succeeded, but was drowned sailing from Norway to claim her throne. With no direct heirs the throne was subject to several claimants and Edward I of England was asked to arbitrate on a successor. He chose John Baliol, who made the mistake of concluding a treaty with France, which brought him into immediate conflict with England. Baliol was forced to abdicate and Scotland for a time came under English rule. This ended in 1306, when Robert the Bruce claimed the vacant throne. Twenty years of intermittent war culminated in the Battle of Bannockburn and a resounding defeat for the English, after which Scotland regained its independence.

The following year, Robert the Bruce died and the country was immediately plunged into civil war that lasted for twelve years. After a few years of peace, Scotland then embarked on another war with England, but lost. The Scottish king, David II (1329-1371) was imprisoned in England and only regained his throne after a ransom was paid.

Robert II, who became king in 1371, was the first of the Stuart kings that ruled Scotland, and eventually England, until 1714. His reign was mostly peaceful but the seeds of further conflict were sown by his renewed friendship with France, to offset the growing power of England. Of the next five kings of Scotland, all called James, four were to die as a consequence of war against the English, two of them in battle. One of them, James IV (1488-1513), married Margaret, daughter of Henry VII of England, and it was this link that lead to James VI, son of Mary, Queen of Scots, to inherit the throne of England when Elizabeth I died without heirs in 1603.

During the whole of this period Scotland was, for the most part, more backward than England in almost every respect, especially economically (itself reflecting the much harsher environment of the north and not helped by continual squabbles with England), and had a much smaller population. Despite this, there were signs of increased prosperity in the reign of Alexander III and again in the reign of David II. Thereafter the economic fortunes of the country fluctuated considerably and were often under severe strain, until the late16th Century, when there was a great improvement in the reign of James VI. following many years of peace.

After Scotland and England were combined under the rule of the Stuarts, Scotland still continued to be regarded as a separate kingdom, until the act of Union was passed in 1707.

The coinage of Scotland began with denominations similar to the prevailing standards of English coins and many Scottish coins circulated in England. The closer ties with France initiated by the Stuart kings led to a great diversity of denominations, many based on French equivalents, with designs that reflected growing French influence. This reached its pinnacle in the large numbers of coin types, especially in gold, during the reign of James VI (1567-1625).

It was over 100 years after the unification of Scotland before the first coins were issued by David I, in 1136. The style and standard of manufacture of these coins, all silver pennies, was exceedingly crude, but probably no worse than contemporary issues in England, upon which they were vaguely modelled. Until 1373 Scottish coins traded freely in England, with the same values. As with their English counterparts, smaller denominations, half pennies and farthings, were made by cutting up pennies. The new (second) coinage of Alexander III from 1280-1286, which coincided with similar reforms by Edward I in England, was a great improvement. These replaced the moneyer's name used on the earlier coins with a system of denoting the place of mintage by the number of points (between 20 and 28) on the stars in the reverse design, e.g. Edinburgh had 20 points, Aberdeen 23, while Perth had 26. He also minted some rare halfpennies and farthings.

Alexander III silver penny from his second coinage
1280-1286

During the reign of David II (1329-1371), developments in England were mimicked on Scottish coins. Growing prosperity and increased Continental trade meant higher denominations were required, including the gold noble, the silver groat (four pence) and half groat. The latter two silver coins were introduced in 1357 and supplemented the normal pennies, halfpence and farthings in circulation. The noble was a short-lived issue and not continued in the reigns that followed. When his successor, Robert II (1371-1390), was forced to reduce the weight of his coins, it marked the first break with English coins, which had hitherto been produced to similar standards, after which Scottish coins in England were traded at values below that of English coins.

By the end of the century, with gold coins circulating freely in England and the Continent, two new gold denominations were introduced by Robert III (1390-1406). These were the lion and demi-lion, with values of five shillings and two shillings and sixpence respectively. The design as well as the name of these coins came from France. In 1403, rising bullion prices led to a reduction in weight for all Scottish coins, both gold and silver, by about a third. Under James I (1406-1437) the divergence between Scottish coins and English coins increased greatly, even though England was subject to the same inflationary pressures as Scotland, and, for the first time, a Scottish silver coins were debased. James increased the weight of the gold coins to the standard of the English half noble and quarter noble, naming them as the demy, with a value of nine Scottish shillings (108 pence) and half demy of four shillings and sixpence. The groat, originally worth four pence, was revalued at six pence. The silver penny and halfpenny were debased by the addition of copper, the resulting silver and copper mixture being known as billon.

The gold coinage was further complicated by the issues of James II (1437-1460) who replaced the demy and half demy with the lion and demi lion, valued at 10 shillings and 5 shillings though of similar weight. The groat and half groat were actually increased in weight and became twelve pence and sixpence, while the penny was further debased and reduced in weight.

This confusion of weight standards and relative values was given greater impetus in the reign of James III (1460-1488). Initial attempts at a higher standard of gold coins, the so-called rider valued at twenty-three shillings, half rider and quarter rider, ended in failure and they were replaced by the unicorn of eighteen shillings. The groat was struck to a variety of standards depending on the prevailing value of silver, including a base silver issue valued at six pence 1471-1483, with a contemporary fine silver version worth twelve pence. At the end of the reign heavier silver groats were assigned a value of fourteen pence. Similar adjustments affected the half groat. These coins were the first to use a more lifelike, three-quarter facing portait of the kind, pre-dating the introduction of a lifelike portrait on coins of Henry VII of England by over 15 years. Two new denomination, equivalent of the old half groat, called a plack, with a value of four pence, and a half plack of two pence, were struck in billon (a mixture of silver and copper), with only a 50% silver content. The penny was divided into a fine silver issue, with value of three pence and a billon coin of one penny.

During the reign of James IV (1488-1513) there was greater stability. In gold there was still the unicorn and also a half unicorn, while the lion and demi lion were also produced again, of reduced fineness and with values of thirteen shillings and sixpence and six shillings and eightpence. The groat and half groat were struck in two standards, heavier coins of fourteen and seven pence respectively and a lighter issue valued at twelve pence and six pence. The plack, half plack and the fine silver and billon versions of the penny were continued as before.

Under James V (1513-1542) rising gold prices necessitated a revision in the value of the unicorn to twenty shillings and then, in 1526, to twenty-two shillings. A new gold coin, the gold crown, also known as the Abbey crown, replaced the unicorn, with a value of twenty shillings. At first only the billon plack was issued, but groats, now bearing a superb profile portrait of the king, were reintroduced in 1526 with their value increased to eighteen pence. At the same time, the half groat was abandoned and replaced by a third groat, valued at six pence.

In 1538 the third groat in silver was itself replaced by the bawbee, a billon coin with 25% silver, also valued at six pence. Another new coin in billon, the half bawbee was introduced at the same time. production of the groat ceased temporarily. The following year rising bullion prices necessitated the abandonment of previous coins and the introduction of a new gold denomination, the ducat with a value of forty shillings in 1539. For the first time ever, not only on Scottish coins but in Britain generally, these coins bore a date. Accompanying denominations, the two-thirds ducat and third ducat, first minted in 1540, were also dated. During the last few years of the reign only these new gold coins and the billon half bawbee were minted.

The daughter of James V and Mary of Guise, Mary, known forever in history as Mary Queen of Scots, was only seven days old when she became queen. Following the battle fought in 1547 against the English at Pinkie, she was forced into exile. In 1558 she married the heir of the French king, Francois, and with French help was able to return to Scotland and reclaim her throne. After the death of Francois, she married her cousin, Henry, Lord Darnley, both of whom feature on coins of her reign. Later Darnley was murdered by the Earl of Bothwell, who abducted Mary and married her. This so antagonised her subjects that she was forced to abdicate in favour of her son, James VI, spending the rest of her life in England, imprisoned until executed for plotting against Elizabeth I in 1587.

During the reign of Mary (1542-1567), there was an even greater shift towards Continental coin standards, notably the introduction of the silver ryal or dollar of 1565, valued at thirty shillings, with complementary two-thirds and third ryals with values of twenty shillings and ten shillings respectively. Two other new silver coins were the testoon of four shillings and the half testoon, first minted in 1553 and 1555 respectively. Within two years these values had to be revised upwards, to five shillings and two shillings and six pence. During the reign of James VI, the testoon and half testoon were countermarked with a thistle and increased in value to seven shillings and six pence and three shillings and nine pence.

Above: Testoon of Mary and Francis, 1560
The obverse bears the monogram FM and the emblems of France (fleur de lis) and Scotland (thistle)
In 1560 Francis and Mary briefly became King and Queen of France until his death after a reign lasting just a few months

The coinage of James VI was as complicated as that of his mother. It can, however, be divided into two periods, that before his accession to the English throne and that after. In the early period several new denominations were introduced. In gold the most notable was the large twenty pound piece. Some were continuations of coins from the reign of his mother, others revivals of earlier denominations such as the rider and the lion. In silver several totally new coins made their appearance, with values between two shillings and forty shillings. The old unit of account based on multiples and fractions of the sum of six shillings and eightpence, reappeared in a coin called a merk. Production of these coins ceased with the reforms of 1603 after which all the coins minted were the Scottish equivalent of English denominations, using a standard of twelve Scottish pounds being equal to one English pound.

Charles I greatly simplified the coinage to make it conform more to English standards. The gold coinage was reduced to four denominations, based on the unit, valued at twelve pounds (or one English pound). To these was added the gold angel, worth ten shillings, an anachronistic denomination struck at the time of his coronation in Scotland in 1633. The silver coins were mainly Scottish equivalents of English coins, the sixty shillings, equivalent to the English crown, thirty shillings, twelve shillings, six shillings, three shillings, two shillings and one shilling.

In 1635, Nicholas Briot was appointed as master of the Scottish mint and from 1636 to 1642 produced coins made on a screw press. Later his son-in-law John Falconer worked with him. Coins of Briot include a small letter B in the obverse legend, those of Falconer the letter F (which may also appear on the reverse). These coins were of a much higher standard of workmanship than the previous hand made hammered coinage. They included three small silver coins based on the merk standard of 13s and 4d; these were the half merk, forty pence and twenty pence. Most of the early coins of Charles I, before 1636, used a portrait very similar to that of his father, facing right. The changed with Briot and Falconer coinage which used a left facing portrait except on the gold unit. The same applied to the crown and half crown where the equestrian portrait is to the right on early coins and to the left after 1636.For coins minted in Scotland for Charles I by Nicholas Briot and John Falconer see Early Milled Coins

The half groat or "turner" was now a copper coin. After an initial issue in 1629 the Earl of Richmond was given a licence to produce these coins, which had a value equivalent to the English farthing, itself produced by the Earl under licence. This coinage began in 1632 and ceased in 1639. During the Civil War, 1642-1650 the half groat was the only coin struck in Scotland. A few copper pennies were struck in 1629 and again by the Earl of Richmond.

During the period of the Commonwealth no coins were struck in Scotland. Following the restoration of Charles II the mint was reopened under the control of Sir John Falconer and machinery imported for the new coinage. This consisted of silver coins based on the merk, the largest of which was the four merk or dollar, which initially had the value of 53 shillings and 4 pence, raised to 56 shillings in 1681. The other silver coins were the merk, half merk and quarter merk. The the bawbee or sixpence made its return, as did the turner or bodle of two pence. Both of these small denominations were made of copper.

In 1682 several of the Scottish mint officials were found guilty of corruption and the mint was closed until the reign of James II reopening in 1686.

Although a coinage was planned for James VII - James II in England - (1685-1688) only a silver ten shillings coin was produced and achieved circulation.

During the reign of William and Mary the Scottish mint returned to coins which were equivalent to English coins, still based on a relative value of twelve to one. Hence the sixty shillings piece was the same as the English crown of five shillings.

Two gold coins were minted in 1701 for William III, the pistole and half pistole, which, with values of twelve pounds and six pounds, were the approximate equivalent of the English guinea and half guinea. Gold for their manufacture was imported from the Central American colony of Darien. The other coins continued the policy of the previous joint reign.

The coinage for Queen Anne (1702-1714) was confined to just two denominations minted in 1705 and 1706. After the Union of Scotland and England in 1707 the mint at Edinburgh continued for a time producing crowns, half crowns, shillings and sixpences marked with the letter E.

David I (1124-1153)
Malcolm IV (1153-1165)
William the (Lion 1165-1214)
Alexander II (1214-1249)
Alexander III (1249-1286)
John Baliol (1292-1296)
Robert the Bruce (1306-1329)
David II (1329-1371)
Robert II (1371-1390)
Robert III (1390-1406)
James I (1406-1437)
James II (1437-1460)
James III (1460-1488)
James IV (1488-1513)
James V (1513-1542)
Mary (Mary Queen of Scots) (1542-1567)
James VI (James I of England) (1567-1625)
Charles I (1625-1649)
Charles II (1660-1685)
James VII (James II of England) (1685-1688)
William & Mary (1689-1694)
William II (William III of England) (1694-1701)
Anne (1701-1714) (coins only until 1706)