Scotland 1540 1/3 bonnet piece Fr-27
This specimen was lot 41503 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $40,800. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Extremely Rare James V 1/3 Ducat, The Douglas-LaRiviere Specimen, Plated in Spink. SCOTLAND. 1/3 Ducat, 1540. Edinburgh Mint; mm: lis. James V. NGC VF-35. Third Coinage. An absolute treasure among Scottish gold and one of the most noteworthy offerings in this cabinet. Overall olive-gold tone is accented by warm honey color and traces of dark patina at the borders. Nicely centered with intact legends and virtually complete beaded borders. Scrutiny reveals a masterful repair at the portrait's jaw and corresponding shield, though this is largely unnoticeable to the naked eye. The surfaces are otherwise smooth and without distractions. This coin offers a magnificent coalescence of rarity and eye appeal for this historic type.
Issued in the twilight years of James V's reign, this 1540 issue is a monumental rarity among Scottish coinage. As with the larger counterpart, the one third ducat is part of the first dated issues of the entire British Isles, preceding England's first dated issues by nearly a decade. While the full denomination was issued for 1539 and 1540, the fractional ducats were only issued for 1540 contributing to their extreme rarity. Curiously, Burns points out that "coinages of Bonnet pieces took place during 1541 and 1542...but neither of these dates appear upon the coins." The later coinage coincides with the King's death in the same year, with his daughter Mary being just six days old. The next day, she was crowned as Queen of the Scots, ruling in the north and becoming the key player in the political intrigues of England or the next 30 years.
Between the full ducat, the two-thirds ducat, and the one-third ducat, the one third fractional offered here is the rarest by several magnitudes. In fact, this example is the only one we can trace through a public auction over the past two decades. It was last sold as part of the Lucien LaRiviere Collection in 2006 and was previously featured in the Douglas Collection in 1997. With an average appearance of less than once per decade for examples of the issue, the significance of this offering cannot be overstated. It was also selected as the plate coin for the most recent Spink reference (4th ed., 2020), immortalizing it as an exemplary specimen for generations to come. From the Loch Ness Collection. Ex: Lucien LaRiviere Collection (Spink - 4/2006) Lot # 87. Ex: Douglas Collection (Spink - 4/1997) Lot # 283. The Spink plate coin (4th ed., 2020)."
Friedberg lists this as equal to one-third ducat but the weight is far too high. Two-thirds and one bonnet pieces were also issued. We don't know how many shillings this would have traded for but any gold coin would have had enormous buying power in sixteenth century Scotland.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: gold, this specimen 1.90 g.
Catalog reference: S-5375; Fr-27; Burns-1 (fig. 756).
- 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.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of the Coins of Scotland, Ireland, Channel Islands & Isle of Man, London: Coincraft, 1999.
- [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.
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