Scotland 1676 4 merks Dav-3787
This specimen was lot 41542 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $600. The catalog description[1] noted,
"SCOTLAND. Dollar (4 Merks), 1676. Edinburgh Mint; mm: F. Charles II. NGC F-12. Second Coinage. Smooth and nicely glossed, with only minor marks visible under a glass. The denticles remain virtually full on the obverse, while the reverse is pulled to 6 o'clock. Old slate-grey tone with an area of dark patina noted below R of GRA. An historic piece that was struck a full century before the signing of the Declaration of Independence in America. While the 1682 is the most common of this type, those of 1676 are remarkably SCARCE with fewer than 10 distinct examples sold publicly in the past decade. From the Loch Ness Collection."
A merk was originally forty shillings Scots in the sixteenth century. Both the merk and the Scots shilling shrank in the intervening years and this four merks appears to have traded for 53 shillings and fourpence. The exchange rate between Scottish and English coinage varied but during this reign, 60 shillings = one English crown. This type was struck 1676, 1679-82.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, approx. 26.5-26.6 g, this specimen 26.14 g.
Catalog reference: Dav-3787, S-5618; KM-113; Burns-1 (fig. 1054).
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1600-1700, Galesburg, IL, 1974.
- 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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