Help with Id please

[ken3333]

I have recently acquired what I thought was a James I half groat but on closer inspection the legend isn't right. Instead of I D G ROSA the legend reads C D G ROSA etc. I don't have any reference books and so have not been able to ID it. Where these coins overstamped for use by Charles I ?

[TomGoodheart]

You may not have been able to find another example because your coins is a Scottish Two shillings of Charles I . Spink 5544.

Were these coins overstamped for use by Charles I ?

... Possibly. Certainly the first few Scottish (Twelve) shillings of Charles I bear an earlier bust of James with a new legend, so they may have used existing dies for smaller coins too.

Nice!

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Edited September 4, 2015 by TomGoodheart

[ken3333]

Many thanks. Am I right that the only difference between the James I half groat and the Charles I Scottish 2 Shillings is one letter in the legend. If that's the case they must have been crossing the border with pockets full of half groats to get 2 bobs worth of goodies!

[TomGoodheart]

LOL I'm pretty sure coinage initially circulated across the border for its English equivalent. A Scots 12 shilling coins was marked XII, similarly six shillings VI, exactly the same as their English counterparts. I'm guessing a Scots 2/- will therefore have been accepted for 2d in England.

Of course, the standard of coinage in Scotland was 0.916 fine silver, compared to sterling (0.925) across the border in England. But I doubt that would have bothered most people as I can't imagine many would have recognised the subtleties of a thistle over a lis mark and so not known they were in effect being short changed.

However when subsequently the denominations were changed North of the border, those might have been received less willingly...

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