Scotland (1390-1403) lion Fr-4
This specimen was lot 41488 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $14,400. The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCOTLAND. Robert III. Short Cross Lion (Scottish Crown or St. Andrew), ND (1390-1403). NGC EF-40. Heavy Coinage, Second Issue. Bright yellow-gold surfaces with strong luster in the protected areas. Somewhat weak at the centers but sharp at the borders with intact legends. Strong eye appeal despite minor friction in the fields. A RARE issue with fewer than a half-dozen examples sold publicly in the past 15 years."
Ordered by the Act of October 24th, 1393, the lion or Scottish crown was to be made of "good gold" with presumably equal fineness to the English noble at 23 and 7/8 carats fine. These coins are sometimes called a gold "St. Andrew" after the eponymous crucifixion portrayed on the reverse. Burns points out that this nickname was a modern phenomena, as "the name commonly given to these pieces when they were current coins was lions or Scottish crowns." Survivors remain RARE in all grades, and this piece is surely among the finest known. From the Loch Ness Collection."
Several gold lions and half lions are listed for this ruler, ranging from rare to very rare.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold.
Catalog reference: S-5155; Fr-4; Burns-11 (fig. 384).
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Man & Lundy), Pre-Decimal Issues, 2nd edition, London: Spink & Son, 2003.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The August 2021 ANA sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
Link to: