Scotland 1553 lion Fr-30

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Stack's Bowers 2021 ANA sale, lot 41506
photo courtesy Stack's Bowers LLC

This specimen was lot 41506 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $12,000. The catalog description[1] noted,

"Superior Mary 44 Shillings, SCOTLAND. 44 Shillings (Lion), 1553. Edinburgh Mint. Mary. NGC AU-55. First Period, Before Marriage. An impressive piece with warm olive-gold tone and sharp detail throughout. The surfaces display considerable satiny luster and appear fully Mint State upon first glance. Nicely centered on the obverse and pulled slightly to 4 o'clock on the reverse, with signs of double striking on both sides. Natural irregularity in the flan is noted at the lower obverse edge. A trivial old mark is noted below E of DEI, but the complexion is otherwise undisturbed. As beautiful as it is RARE.

Issued partway through Mary's first period coinage of 1542 through 1558, the 44 shillings were the second heaviest gold coin of this era, dwarfed by only the massive 3 pound pieces introduced for 1555. Burns reported in 1887 that these were commonly referred to as "lions" by collectors, even though it is unlikely they were ever officially regarded as such. Instead, he goes on to point out that "lion" was the contemporary nickname given to "small billon coins of one penny fine." From the Loch Ness Collection."

This coin had a face value of 44 shillings but any gold coin would have had enormous buying power in sixteenth century Scotland.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: gold.

Catalog reference: S-5394; Fr-30; Burns-5.

Source:

  • 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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