Scotland 1555 1/2 ryal

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Heritage sale 3073, lot 31825
photo courtesy Heritage Auction Galleries

This specimen was lot 31825 in Heritage sale 3073 (Chicago, April 2019), where it sold for $4,560. The catalog description[1] noted,

"Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1567) gold 1/2 Ryal (30 Shillings) 1555 VG (cleaned, ex-jewelry). A veritable giant of the sixteenth-century Scottish series, one of only three dates recorded for the type along with 1557 and 1558, and the sole example of Mary's coinage to bear her portrait. A devout Catholic by birth on the edge Henry VIII's reformation of the Anglican Church, Mary was ultimately executed on charges of treason by her Protestant cousin Queen Elizabeth I. While issues of Mary are extremely rare in general, her gold coinage stands in a league all its own. Since the noteworthy sale of the Dundee Collection by Bowers & Spink in 1976, it has been supposed that only 3-4 examples of the 1555 1/2 Ryal survive in private hands, a number reiterated by J.K.R. Murray in his 1979 article on the coinage. Though the piece at hand does show its fair share of cleaning and wear, it still preserves a strong silhouette of the Scottish queen's portrait, together with clear legends that appear fully legible and entirely on the flan; the noted jewelry damage fortunately not involving any evidence of piercing.

Despite known forgeries of the type on the market, we note that the present specimen appears to be of good gold and full weight, the mounting further attesting to its authenticity, whereas the ex. Dundee piece (lot 125 of the aforementioned sale), which was significantly underweight at 46.3 grains, originally achieved in access of $10000 and has continued to circulate around the marketplace as genuine. An all-in-all must for any serious Scottish collector, sure to have long been absent from many a collection. Ex. Morton & Eden Auction #91, 7 December 2017, Lot 547; Christie's, 8 October 1974, lot 51; Glendining, 7 July 1948, lot 35 (comes with old auction listing and envelope); Virgil Brand and Thomas Bearman Collections."

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

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: gold, this specimen 22 mm. 3.79 g (58.49 grains).

Catalog reference: Fr-34, S-5398, Burns-pg. 291, 8 (Fig. 822.2).

Source:

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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]Bierrenbach, Cristiano and Warren Tucker, Heritage World and Ancient Coins Auction 3073, featuring the Lake County Collection of British coins, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2019.

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