noonans sell ONE OF THE FIRST COINS STRUCK IN SCOTLAND for a hammer price of £1,500

One of the first coins struck in Scotland fetched a hammer price of £1,500 during the 900th anniversary year of the Coronation of David I (1124-1153). From Part II of a large collection of Scottish coins that had been amassed over the last 50 years by an anonymous collector, the coin was offered at Noonans Mayfair on Thursday, May 9, 2024 [lot 601].

Jim Brown, Coin Specialist at Noonans commented: “The David I penny sold at its top estimate of £1,500 to a Scottish collector and we are very pleased that it is going home during the 900th anniversary year of David I’s Coronation.”

Comprising 177 lots, the collection fetched £57,700. This was the second part of this single-owner collection of Scottish Coins and 99.4% of the collection was sold. Part I was 100% sold and fetched an overall hammer price of £86,270 when offered at auction in January of this year.

Like the January sale, the highest price of the collection was for an excessively rare coin from the reign of Robert the Bruce (1306-1329) which fetched a hammer price of £2,600 against an estimate of £800-1,000 and was bought by a UK collector [lot 656].

Elsewhere in the sale, several coins from very rare mints achieved good prices. From the reign of Robert II (1371-1390) was a groat (silver coin worth four pence) that was minted in Dundee fetched a hammer price of £1,800 against an estimate of £1,200-1,500. This was bought by a Scottish collector. The Dundee mint opened in the 1380s and was only open for a few years [lot 698].

From the reign of James III (1460-1488) was a rare groat struck around 1467 from the Berwick mint which realised a hammer price of £1,800. It was bought by another UK collector [lot 743].