Scotland 1680 1/2 merk
This specimen was lot 75586 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, February 2024), where it sold for $168. The catalog description[1] noted, "SCOTLAND. 1/8 Dollar (1/2 Merk), 1680. Edinburgh Mint. Charles II. NGC F-12. A charming representative, the present example delivers a rich eye appeal, with mottled toning throughout and even circulation across the devices." 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 half merk appears to have traded for six shillings and eight pence, or a little more than an English sixpence. The exchange rate between Scottish and English coinage varied but during this reign, 60 shillings = one English crown. This type was struck 1676-82 along with quarter, one and four merks.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.4 g, 0.917 fine silver.
Catalog reference: S-5622; KM-112.
- 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 English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, February 2024 World Collectors Choice Online Auction, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2024.
- 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.
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