1 Groat - David II 2nd Coinage, Class A

David II returned from English captivity in 1357 after eleven years, released under the Treaty of Berwick for a ransom of 100,000 merks — a sum so crushing that Scottish fiscal policy for the following decade was dictated almost entirely by its installment schedule. The groat coinage that immediately followed his return was partly a mechanism for demonstrating restored royal authority and partly a practical response to the need for hard currency to meet those payments.

Spink 5092 is the earliest class of this second coinage, distinguished from later classes by its cruder lettering and broader flan characteristics — details that matter when attributing worn examples.