Scotland 1560 1/2 testoon S-5420
This specimen was lot 41578 in Stack's Bowers Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction (Pittsburgh, August 2026), where it sold for $1,464. The catalog description[1] noted, "SCOTLAND. 1/2 Testoon, 1560. Edinburgh Mint. Francis & Mary. NGC AU-58. Despite being struck on a somewhat irregularly-shaped flan, this SCARCER type offers a pleasing, well executed strike and some elegant toning that deepens nearer the peripheries." At this time the testoon was five shillings Scots (one shilling English), making this coin 2½ shillings Scots or sixpence English. The crown on the shield side shows three lis and two crosses; the very similar S-5421 has a crown of five lis. Mary's marriage to Francis, dauphin and later king of France, lasted a year and a half until his death in 1560, when she was 17. No half testoons were struck after 1562.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 47.1 grains (3.05 g), 0.916 fine silver, this specimen 3.00 g.
Catalog reference: S-5420.
- 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.
- Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Man & Lundy), and Anglo-Gallic coins, Pre-Decimal Issues, 5th edition, London: Sovereign Rarities, 2025.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2026.
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