1 Penny - Charles I Coinage of 1629

Charles I's Scottish copper coinage of 1629 was authorised under a patent system — the right to profit from minting base metal currency was farmed out to private patentees rather than managed directly by the Crown. For this issue, the patent had passed through a succession of holders since James VI first established the Scottish copper coinage in 1597. The penny was the smallest denomination in a system that had already been debased well beyond English equivalents, reflecting chronic shortages of small change in Scottish commercial life.

Spink 5597 is among the more elusive attributions in the Scottish copper series, where die variety and flan quality vary considerably across surviving examples.