1/2 Unicorn - James IV Type I

James IV inherited the Scottish throne under a cloud — he had backed the rebellion against his own father, James III, who died at Sauchieburn in 1488 under circumstances murky enough that contemporaries suspected murder. The king wore an iron chain around his waist for the rest of his life as personal penance. His gold coinage, issued across a reign that ended at Flodden Field in 1513, reflects a monarchy anxious to project legitimacy through strong metallic currency at a time when Anglo-Scottish relations lurched between treaty and open war.