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Scottish Merk

I had been looking for a nice Scottish coin that had a price tag I could justify for what is only a whim of mine. I found this coin, though worn, has a beautiful patina, in hand.

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Comments

  • SaorAlbaSaorAlba Posts: 7,466 ✭✭✭✭✭
    FYI a Merk was worth 13/4 ie thirteen Scottish shillings and fourpence. It was a coin that roughly corresponded to an English shilling - after the Union of the Crowns in 1707 these were recalled by the mint in Edinburgh, melted and reminted into standard British coinage. Only gold and silver coinage were called in, bronze was not - which was a good thing because the Tower mint was miserable about supplying bronze coinage until the early 19th century - as a result Scots bawbees and bodles circulated deep into the 18th century which is why they are in such miserable shape.

    The remarkable thing about Scots silver from that era is that as much has survived as has - given that it really didn't circulate after ca. 1709 or so - the supposition being that it was stashed away in jugs etc.
    In memory of my kitty Seryozha 14.2.1996 ~ 13.9.2016 and Shadow 3.4.2015 - 16.4.21
  • lordmarcovanlordmarcovan Posts: 43,194 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I too have wanted an affordable Scottish piece for a while (as a nod to my maternal ancestry), but I haven't gotten one yet. Nicely done!

    Explore collections of lordmarcovan on CollecOnline, management, safe-keeping, sharing and valuation solution for art piece and collectibles.
  • ashelandasheland Posts: 22,612 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Very cool!
  • LochNESSLochNESS Posts: 4,829 ✭✭✭
    Indeed, the price for old Scottish silver can get quite high! And it is harder to find than one might think as SaorAlba pointed out. A very nice coin and thanks for posting! image
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  • SaorAlbaSaorAlba Posts: 7,466 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Here is one of my examples of the Merk from 1673:

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    And a rare example in high grade of the 4 Merk(a so called dollar) from 1681:

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    In memory of my kitty Seryozha 14.2.1996 ~ 13.9.2016 and Shadow 3.4.2015 - 16.4.21
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