John Balliol's kingship lasted just four years before Edward I of England forced his abdication in 1296 — the humiliating public removal of the royal arms from Balliol's surcoat earning him the nickname "Toom Tabard," or empty coat. His two coinage issues are distinguished by the number of pellets in the reverse quarters, the second coinage carrying six where the first carried four. Given the brevity of the reign and the small denominational value driving actual daily use, surviving halfpennies are substantially rarer than the pennies struck concurrently at Berwick and St Andrews.
John Balliol's kingship lasted just four years before Edward I of England forced his abdication in 1296 — the humiliating public removal of the royal arms from Balliol's surcoat earning him the nickname "Toom Tabard," or empty coat. His two coinage issues are distinguished by the number of pellets in the reverse quarters, the second coinage carrying six where the first carried four. Given the brevity of the reign and the small denominational value driving actual daily use, surviving halfpennies are substantially rarer than the pennies struck concurrently at Berwick and St Andrews.