Alexander III of Scotland Penny 1249 to 1286 AD

I picked up this at auction today - a bit of a tangent for me, but it is so handsome I could not resist!

Second Issue Penny of Alexander III of Scotland (1249 to 1286 AD)
I believe this to be Class 4 and minted in Perth (26 points in total to the stars)

Obverse reads Alexander Dei Gra (Alexander by the Grace of God)
Reverse reads Rex Scotorum (king of the Scots)
Not particular scarce, but a nice example.

... just for your entertainment...

 

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Paddy B Nice score !!!!

 

IMHO, except for the little edge chip, this is a great coin. Bold legends and clear portraits are not always the norm here but this one has both. Again just my opinion, the reverse cross shows faintly on the obverse but not so much as to harm the portrait but enough to make the coin a fine example of how the thin flans resulted in the 'dotted lines' along which the coins could be divided for fractions. I prefer this to one with no trace of the cross on the portrait. The coin is, as you say, excellent entertainment.

 

Very cool! Is the cross on the reverse dividing the coin into quarters there so the coin could be cut?

 

I am not certain if they were made with this in mind, but it certainly became standard practice to break penny coins into halves and quarters to facilitate change. This applies to many "long cross" coins across Europe from this era.

 

In case you don't know, Stewartby & North's study on these coins is available for free online, as is the rest of the BNJ:
http://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital BNJ/pdfs/1990_BNJ_60_6.pdf

 

Thanks for that. I use the Coincraft book from 1999 - less thorough, but easier to read and slightly more up to date.

 

VERY nice....VERY nice indeed.

 

Really? I find it an incredible pain to do any 13th century British issues without the specialized references.

 

I do not do Scottish coins very often, so usually the Coincraft book is enough. For English I tend to start with Spinks to get me into the right area, and then use J J North to refine. But I have had collectors tell me North is too out of date now, and there have been many re-classifications and new discoveries. All becomes a bit of a minefield!

 

love it paddy the scottish coins are a largely ignored branch of collecting but once you get into them they are addictive., btw the long cross pennies were minted to foil the coin clippers who would clip small pieces of silver from the short cross pennies.


here is my william the lion penny from 1165