Alexander III's currency reform of 1280 broke sharply from earlier Scottish coinage practice, introducing the facing portrait with star stops that defines Class A of the second coinage. The reform aligned Scottish penny weight and standard closely with the contemporary English long-cross coinage, a deliberate policy choice that facilitated cross-border trade — Scotland and England were, for the moment, at peace. Alexander died in March 1286 when his horse went over a cliff near Kinghorn in the dark, and the production of this type ended with him.
Alexander III's currency reform of 1280 broke sharply from earlier Scottish coinage practice, introducing the facing portrait with star stops that defines Class A of the second coinage. The reform aligned Scottish penny weight and standard closely with the contemporary English long-cross coinage, a deliberate policy choice that facilitated cross-border trade — Scotland and England were, for the moment, at peace. Alexander died in March 1286 when his horse went over a cliff near Kinghorn in the dark, and the production of this type ended with him.