A Collection of Scottish Coins, the Property of a Gentleman

Robert III (1390-1406), Heavy coinage, First issue, Groat, Edinburgh, mm. cross potent, tressure of seven arcs, trefoils on cusps, lis and crescent stops, rev. three pellets in quarters of cross, lis and crescent stops after dns, villa and rgh, 2.86g/3h (cf. SCBI 35, 552 same rev. die; SCBI 72, 90-2, same obv. die; B p.291, fig. 353A, same obv. die; S 5164A). Very fine or better, the variety very rare £200-£300

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Scottish Coins, the Property of a Gentleman.

View
Collection

Bt Edinburgh Coin Shop December 1980

At the beginning of the lis and crescent issue, there are a number of dies showing a large a. These mainly have a flat top-bar, broken on many dies, but this die has a large a with symmetrical droops, the only obverse die to show this. It can also be seen on this reverse die. Some coins around this time show what cataloguers have described as an ‘elongated face’. The vendor notes that this is not due to the introduction of different punches but purely by positioning the crown (and sometimes the hair) slightly higher. It may be an idiosyncrasy peculiar to one particular die-sinker.