Back when I was conceiving possible content for the 16th century part of my set, I decided that a Scottish "Sword Dollar" Ryal would really look cool in the 1571 slot. As fate would have it, I found one I liked at the show yesterday. The set is now complete 1559 to present.
I admire the creativity in pursuing your set by prime number years, although I hope I don't last long enough to examine it when complete .
That is a very attractive coin. I'm unfamiliar with "Sword Dollars". Could you tell us a bit more about these coins?
The Scottish 30 shilling or "Ryal" was made from 1565 to 1571. From 1565 through mid-1567, under Queen Mary, the design was a palm rather than a sword. In 1567, Mary abdicated, making James VI the 13-month-old king of Scotland. The obverse design was changed from a palm to a sword and the denomination (XXX) added. These sword design continued until 1571. In 1578, they were revalued to 36 shillings 9 pence, indicated by the crowned thistle countermark. The revaluation was necessary to keep the coins from being melted and/or exported due to a higher bullion value.
I can't remember when I started it, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was 8-10 years ago. I "only" need 8 coins to fill in a solid run from 1481 to present. If that takes me until 2027, I'll need 9 coins. The set will contain two "prime decades," which is a sequence of 4 prime numbers n+1, n+3, n+7, n+9. The later prime decade is the 1870s, which has all US coins. The earlier one is the 1480s, for which attractive, dated coins are not so easy to find.
