Scotland 1601 merk

Stack's Bowers 2021 ANA sale, lot 46016

photo courtesy Stack's Bowers LLC

This specimen was lot 46016 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $288. The catalog description^[1] noted, "SCOTLAND. Thistle Merk, 1601. Edinburgh Mint. James VI. NGC VF-35. Eighth Coinage. Deeply toned with flashes of colorful iridescence on the reverse. Generally centered on an irregular flan but somewhat weak at the borders. Very attractive. From the Loch Ness Collection." This merk, roughly equal to ten Scottish shillings, was worth about one English shilling. It was struck 1601-04.

Recorded mintage: unknown.

Specification: 6.79 g, 0.917 fine silver, about 32 mm diameter; this specimen 6.65 g.

Catalog reference: S-5497; KM-16.

Source:

• Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
• 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.
• 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:

• Scotland 1601 1/2 sword and sceptre Fr-47 = 60 shillings
• Scotland 1601 sword and sceptre Fr-46 = 120 shillings
• 1602 merk
• Coins and currency dated 1601